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What cracks mean

Stabilisation work

Towns in Kent

Ask about your home

Gravesend, Kent

Find out what the cracks or hollow ground near your home means

You might have noticed a new crack in a wall, a dip forming in the garden, or heard that Gravesend sits on old chalk workings. A specialist can examine the ground beneath your home and tell you whether it needs attention.

  • No cost to ask
  • Specialists who know north Kent ground
  • No obligation to proceed
Aerial photo of a rural house with garden, greenhouse, and parked cars in Belarus. Shot in clear daylight.

Describe what you have noticed

What you send goes to one independent subsidence specialist for your area, and that specialist may pay this site once your enquiry has been passed on. There is nothing for you to pay us, you are welcome to seek quotations from other firms too, and our privacy notice has more on where your information goes.

What a specialist can do for your home

Gravesend sits on chalk covered by sand and river deposits, with old dene holes and cement workings beneath parts of the town. Different problems need different fixes, so specialists use several methods depending on what they find underground.

  • a man in an orange shirt is using a tripod

    Subsidence Help

    A subsidence specialist investigates why the ground beneath a home is moving and plans how to stop further damage to the structure above.

  • Roofer in a cherry picker conducting maintenance on a red brick building with a tiled roof.

    Underpinning

    An underpinning contractor excavates below the existing foundations and pours new concrete to carry the weight of the house on stable ground.

  • A vintage brick wall with rough, weathered texture and peeling plaster. Captures a sense of decay.

    Resin Injection

    A resin injection technician pumps expanding material into weak soil or voids to fill gaps and firm up the ground without major digging.

  • a woman laying on top of a bed wearing a red and white checkered shirt

    Concrete Cracking

    A concrete repair specialist assesses cracked slabs, floors or drives and stabilises the base before fixing the surface itself.

  • silver pin on white textile

    Screw Piling

    A piling contractor drives steel screw piles deep into firm ground to support extensions, bay windows or porches built over soft soil.

Working out what you are looking at

The signs around your home tell you something has changed, but they rarely point to a single cause. What matters is how quickly you should ask someone to look. Only a site inspection establishes exactly what is happening beneath the floorboards or in the garden.

  • A dip or hollow has opened up in the garden, especially near old chalk pitsToday

    Gravesend has many filled dene holes and old chalk mines. A sudden depression often means fill material has shifted or a void has collapsed underground.

    What to do Describe where the hollow is and how fast it formed when you send an enquiry.

  • Diagonal cracks wider than 3mm running from window or door cornersSoon

    Cracks following this pattern usually point to foundation movement rather than simple plaster shrinkage, particularly where made-up riverside ground compresses unevenly.

    What to do Note which walls are affected and whether the cracks are still growing.

  • Doors or windows that have started sticking in their framesSoon

    Frames distort when the walls around them shift. On chalk or filled ground, seasonal moisture changes can trigger this movement gradually over months.

    What to do Check if the sticking is getting worse across seasons and mention it in your enquiry.

  • A concrete drive or path that has sunk at one endWorth watching

    Slabs settle when the subsoil washes out or compacts. In Gravesend, sandy layers over chalk allow water to carry fine particles away slowly.

    What to do Mark the edge of the sunken area with chalk to track any further drop.

  • Hairline cracks in interior plaster that stay the same sizeWorth watching

    Plaster shrinks as it dries and houses settle slightly over time. Fine cracks that do not widen or lengthen rarely indicate structural trouble.

    What to do Monitor them through winter and summer to see if temperature changes affect them.

None of this diagnoses your particular home. If a crack is widening fast or a hollow appeared overnight, ask about it now rather than waiting to see what happens next.

Ways specialists stabilise homes in Kent

Each method suits a different type of ground problem. The right one depends on what a specialist finds during their investigation.

Towns in Kent where specialists take on work

Specialist firms cover the whole county. Each town page explains the local ground conditions, from Weald Clay in the south to the chalk and river terraces along the Thames estuary where Gravesend sits.

If your town is not listed, send an enquiry anyway. Specialists travel across Kent and will confirm if they cover your area.

Tell us what you have noticed at your home

Sending an enquiry costs nothing and does not commit you to any work. You describe the problem, and a specialist who handles that type of ground issue in Kent will review the details.

Send your enquiry

What happens next

  1. You describe the signs you have seen around your home and garden
  2. A specialist reviews the details and arranges a site visit if needed
  3. They inspect the ground and explain what they find and what to do