HE apologises for ‘delays’ in repairing crumbling Derry home

A Derry mother has spoken of her shock at discovering defective bricks used in the construction of her Housing Executive home are responsible for the extensive cracks appearing in its exterior and interior.

Speaking to The Derry News, the woman who wished to remain anonymous, said she was alerted to the faulty brickwork in her Daly Crescent home in 2023 by her brother who noticed the cracks while he was visiting.

“That was in May and I contacted the Housing Executive immediately because I was so concerned,” she added.

“The cracks were mostly under the windows and above the windows. At the very corner at the gable you could put your hand through. It was as if a full brick was missing, the house had moved so much.

Cracking under the window sill. 

“The water was running in through my windows last week and I had to get the Housing Executive maintenance contractors out again. They sealed them up again.

“Underneath my bedroom window upstairs, the plaster is always wet. It is peeling off as well.

“I noticed cracks on the walls going up my stairs. The maintenance people filled them in. There were cracks in the ceilings in the bedrooms and they filled them in. The tiles were coming off the walls in the bathroom and I had to get them fixed three times,” said the woman.

Following concern about a potential structural fault in her home voiced by a member of the maintenance team, the Housing Executive commissioned a report (18/8/23) from K2 Consulting Structural and Civil Engineers.

The report (18/8/23) identified a number of faults.

These included, cracking over the living room window; cracking over the front door; movement at the first floor window reveal at the gable side; and movement of a wall at the Damp Proof Course.

Defective bricks at Derry home.

The report also noted, diagonal cracking on the gable wall towards the rear of the home; horizontal cracking at the rear elevation, and diagonal cracking at the rear elevation gable corner.

It added: “[The] calcium silicate bricks [used in the construction of the house] are known to be problematic under certain exposure conditions.

“The historical problems associated with this brick is that thermal movement can be up to 15 times that of a clay brick.

“These bricks are prone to damage [due to] freeze-thaw cycles which create spalling by general crumbling of the surface or by flaking of the surface layer. Cracking is also a common defect due to thermal movements.

“The cracking on the outer leaf is, in my opinion, the result of thermal movements and defective brickwork,” said the report.
In its conclusion, the engineer responsible for the inspection recommended the “long-term solution would be to take down the outer leaf and replace it with a class F2 clay brick.

“In the short to medium term the cracks can be filled with a flexible cracker filler to seal cracks as they open. These should be regularly maintained.”

The situation escalated when the Housing Executive approved the building of an extension to the woman’s home, comprising a bedroom and a bathroom, for her son. This was recommended by his occupational therapist due to his additional needs.

Cracks under the window sill.

“The man who was drawing up the plans for the extension came to my home and I was showing him around. I told him what was happening and showed him the report,” said the woman.

“He went outside and looked around and told me we could not build onto the house in its present condition,” she added.
“He noticed the floors upstairs were bowing and that it was obvious from looking around inside, the house was moving. He told me it was crumbling.

IN PICTURES: Heartfelt send-off for Derry Credit Union stalwarts Joan and Mary

Derry Credit Union retirees honoured at a special dinner in the Bishop’s Gate Hotel

All the details for Kildare's AFL clash with Derry this weekend

After a bright start and a one week break, Brian Flanagan's men are back out to face Derry this weekend at Cedral St Conleth's Park in Round 3 of AFL Division 2

“So, everything is up in the air at the minute. To make matters worse, I am expecting the maintenance team out again this week to repair, for the fourth time, the crumbling lintel in the boys’ bedroom.

“I am cried out with all the uncertainty.

“We need the downstairs extension and we need the defective concrete and bricks replaced. I am so upset because nobody seems to be listening and I am getting no answers. I just wish the Housing Executive would do what was recommended in the engineer’s report.

“I cannot heat this house due to the cracks. I am running the gas and I have electric heaters in all the rooms but it is always cold. If it is windy outside, it is coming in around the windows,” she said.

In a statement to The Derry News, a Housing Executive spokesperson said: “We are working to address the defects at this property and will be arranging further repairs with the tenant this week.

“Work to replace the window lintels and address issues with the brickwork began in December 2025 and will continue over the coming days.

“We apologise for the delays and want to reassure the tenant that we remain committed to completing the necessary repairs and maintaining the property.

“In relation to the proposed extension, a further inspection by our internal structural/civil engineer is required to determine the appropriate next steps.”