Split!

Many would worry about a split like this in a structural timber beam but usually they do not signify a problem. This is in a vertical timber. It will have been caused not by stress but by the timber drying and adjusting to its environment. Even cut timber is still a "living" thing which will move and often try to revert to its original shape. Thus old houses will creak and groan particularly with temperature changes.......a bit like me really!