wrote in message
oups.com...

Hi, my house is a five-year old newbuild, and has a 'cloakroom'
underneath the stairs. Recently I have noticed that gaps have been
appearing between the skirting on the stairs and the rest of the wall -
a few mm at the moment, but enough to worry me.

From the cloakroom, you can see what seems to be a large chunk of the
stairs skirting is plastered into the wall - this has started to crack,
and in fact when someone is walking up the stairs you can actually see
this move slightly.

Occasionally I've also heard a cracking noise whilst I have been in the
sitting room which might be caused by this (it could also be the metal
door exterior cooling down, but I am getting paranoid at times - my
missus is pregnant, etc)

Is this all normal? Is there danger of this getting worse ? Should I
get someone in under NHBC (which I note doesn't cover us for work under
£500)

I can't find info on this anywhere - all help appreciated.

DD

This sounds normal to me. Buildings move all the time, and even slight
changes in temperature can cause the house to make some incredible sounds as
it expands and contracts. If you notice that these gaps are increasing at a
very fast rate, then you should in a surveyor to have a good look. If the
gap is only minor, say a couple two or three millimetres, then this is
normal for a building.

Stairs, especially timber ones, aren't actually connected to the walls at
the side of them. They are made in one continuous runner on either side
that hold the treads in place. The stair case is then, quite literally,
leaned against the landing structure and is held in place rather lightly so
it doesn't slide away. Like putting a ladder against a wall and tying it
off really. So you could check that the treads and risers are still being
held tightly in position by their respective wedges if access to them is
good.

But it does sound quite normal to me.