How To Repair Cracked Stone Lintel' title='How To Repair Cracked Stone Lintel' />
Reparing Structural Problems Homebuilding Renovating. For a guide to repairing brickwork and render, read more here. In this article you will find information on structural issues including Much of the charm of old homes lies in their wonky walls. The fact that very few surfaces are perfectly true, level or smooth only adds to the buildings historic fabric and character, providing a record of how it has adjusted to its environment over many years. The largest and by far the most important of the seven proposals was referred to as Mount Prospect Park. Its name came from the bill on which the reservoir was. Advice on repairing common problems with windows in old houses from rotten frames and sticking sashes to broken panes and peeling lead paint. Waterproofing services from the Waterproofing Specialists Boccia Bros. Basement Waterproofing for over 50 yrs and are the Basement Waterproofing Specialists. Thermal Expansion Cracks in Brick Walls Foundations BRICK WALL THERMAL EXPANSION CRACKS CONTENTS How to recognize, diagnose, repair or prevent brick wall or. At the Mountains of Madness, by H. P. Lovecraft, free ebook. But leafing through a typical building survey and encountering the words structural movement can be a sobering experience. Indeed, anything that hints at structural problems can be a deal breaker, as panicking buyers scurry for the exit. The fact is, all buildings move, and older properties with shallower foundations move more than most as they adjust to seasonal changes in ground conditions or new loadings particularly in regions with clay subsoils. Traditionally, the odd crack developing wasnt regarded as a big issue, being easily remedied with a spot of patching. Periodic movement too might cause the odd door or window to stick in its frame, but a little judicious planning could soon put right such minor niggles. So, for homebuyers with a cool head, concerns about structural movement can sometimes be turned to an advantage by securing a bargain. Find a structural engineer. Subsidence. Of course, not all movement can be breezily dismissed with a philosophical shrug. For example, subsidence can occur if the ground under part of the foundations shrinks, robbing the wall of support commonly caused by leaking drains, or long periods of drought exacerbated by trees extracting moisture. The unsupported part of the wall immediately above can then suddenly drop, with this movement causing cracking. This is very different from settlement, where the ground is slowly compressed over time by the loading placed upon it by the building. All buildings settle after construction or in response to major new structural change such as extensions and loft conversions as the ground adjusts to the new weight imposed upon it. The word subsidence was virtually unknown outside the arcane world of structural engineers and surveyors until cover was introduced into domestic insurance policies in 1. Corroding-lintel-related-brick-wall-cracks-5.jpg' alt='How To Repair Cracked Stone Lintel' title='How To Repair Cracked Stone Lintel' />GUIDE FOR. PRACTITIONERS. by Ingval MaxweU Ratish Nanda Dennis Urquhart. Published by Historic Scotland. ISBN 190016874 X O Crown and Authors Edinburgh 2001. How To Repair Cracked Stone Lintel' title='How To Repair Cracked Stone Lintel' />But it was the deluge of claims following the long, dry summers of 1. Britains most worried about housing defects joining regular contenders such as asbestos, rising damp and dry rot. Interestingly, most insurance claims for alleged subsidence turn out only to be cosmetic damage, and the majority are rejected as invalid because the cause lies elsewhere, such as differential movement cracks between lightweight conservatories and the main house. Cyberpower Surge Protector Manual. Of the valid claims, nearly three quarters are tree related. Regardless of the precise cause of movement, the big question to answer in all cases is whether the movement is historic or progressive, and likely to move more in future. Subsidence Solutions. When it comes to cracking caused by subsidence you need to first eliminate likely causes such as nearby trees and leaking drains. Conventional wisdom tells us that the solution to subsidence is underpinning, which involves excavation below the sunken wall and pumping in large volumes of concrete. But underpinning should be carried out as a last resort, particularly with older properties because the part that hasnt been underpinned will continue to naturally move in tune with ground conditions, setting up stresses with the newly rock solid underpinned length of wall. Underpinning also tends to leave something of a stigma that can worry future buyers and insurers. Of all the valid subsidence claims, nearly three quarters are tree related. Trees and subsidence. Where subsidence is caused by trees there are two basic options remove the offending treemanage it pruningBut if you simply cut down a large, thirsty tree, the ground may then react by swelling with moisture which is no longer being absorbed causing heave. Be aware too that cutting down a tree protected by a Tree Preservation Order TPO or in a Conservation Area without consent can lead to prosecution. Tree management aims to reduce the amount of moisture uptake and how the drying out affects the soil. One remedy is pollarding severe pruning, but not all trees will tolerate heavy crown reductions. For pruning to be effective, reductions of around 9. This is why specialist advice should be sought before deciding whether to prune, pollard, or remove a tree. Installing root barriers can provide an alternative method of tree management. This involves excavating a trench around 4m deep between the offending tree and the building and inserting large sheets made of rigid plastic to protect the whole building from the influence of the vegetation. This method can have considerable cost advantages compared to underpinning, plus theres the benefit of retaining trees. However, there can be practical limitations barriers, for example, cant be inserted so close to the tree that the main roots are damaged, risking instability. Its also important that they are sufficiently robust and designed to accommodate any drainage pipes and underground services. Bulging or Leaning Walls. Identification. Solid walls bulging outwards or leaning with resulting cracking internally to plasterwork and sticking windows is not unusual and there are a number of possible causes. Leaning tends to be most visible at window and door reveals near roof level. Implications of Bulging or Leaning Walls. Bowing or bulging in old solid walls is often due to jerry building, whereby the walls were never properly tied into the floor or roof structure in the first place, or were just cheaply built. This is sometimes evident in the side walls of Victorian houses and end terraces, for example. Solid walls were sometimes built with small embedded bonding timbers to tie them together. These timbers can, over time, be prone to rotting and expanding, causing the wall to bulge. Walls can also bow outwards because they are overloaded, having been built too thin or as a result of botched structural alterations. The most common cause of leaning is from roof spread where the rafters push the tops of the main walls outwards if theyre not restrained by collars or ceiling joists. This may have happened because the joists were poorly nailed to the rafters or have rotted. How to Repair Bulging or Leaning Walls. Before the affected wall sections can be repaired or indeed cut out and rebuilt the cause of the movement must first be identified and eliminated. Costs are in the table at the bottom of the page. Where walls have bulged due to excessive loadings, some form of additional support will need to be provided and a structural engineer consulted. A thin, 1. 15mm single leaf wall, for example, may need to be entirely rebuilt, or the loadings could be diverted or relieved by installing a steel beam. Walls suffering from a lack of restraint can be secured to the upper floor joists or roof structure by building in metal ties a modern variation on traditional S or X iron tie bars below that can be seen adorning the walls of many an old cottage. Sometimes a wall will have come loose because the floor joist ends that used to hold it in place have rotted through. The rotten timbers must be cut out, the cause of dampness remedied, and the ventilation improved, before defective lengths can be replaced with new pre treated timber protected by a damp proof course.