The road was dug up and now my house shakes

julieew

I live in a bungalow that has been extended up. i moved into the property in Sept. 09 and in March 10 i had a gas feed into the property. The company had to dig up the road outside my house, which is a busy road. After about 8 months the upstairs started to shake, this got worse as the months went on. My neighbour then started to feel his bungalow shake (his is not been extended) he contacted the company who dug and they came out and re-packed the surface.

This made a huge difference; however the shaking has started again and i am now noticing cracks to the ceilings and eves of one of the upstairs rooms.

I have reported it again and await contact from the company.

Is there anyone i can contact to get them to monitor the shaking and confirm that the damage is caused because of the road not being packed correctly? and is there any compensation route i can go down. I am concerned as not sure what damage the shaking has actualy done to the actual structure of the house.

Thanks

officeguru

What about phoning someone from Building Control/Environmental Health to get some advice on who would be the best person to speak to... and also what steps you can take..

Hope this helps

mart.vader

julieew wrote: »

I live in a bungalow that has been extended up. i moved into the property in Sept. 09 and in March 10 i had a gas feed into the property. The company had to dig up the road outside my house, which is a busy road. After about 8 months the upstairs started to shake, this got worse as the months went on. My neighbour then started to feel his bungalow shake (his is not been extended) he contacted the company who dug and they came out and re-packed the surface.

This made a huge difference; however the shaking has started again and i am now noticing cracks to the ceilings and eves of one of the upstairs rooms.

I have reported it again and await contact from the company.

Is there anyone i can contact to get them to monitor the shaking and confirm that the damage is caused because of the road not being packed correctly? and is there any compensation route i can go down. I am concerned as not sure what damage the shaking has actualy done to the actual structure of the house.

Thanks

The Highway Authority (not "The Highways Agency") (in your area, this may be your local council) have highways inspectors who are supposed to ensure that damage to the highway is repaired, and repairs to the highway are carried out properly. The highways authority also have liability for damage caused when they haven't ensured this.

If you have a particularly dishonest council, as I have, this may not happen. The local Council area that I have the misfortune to live in, (who are also the Highway Authority) allowed the local Water co. to destroy the concrete-reinforced highway outside my house. The W. Co had numerous leaks, which they were unable to find for two years, and it was their practice to simply deny that they had any leaks.

When the highway was excavated, the council found that a TV cable company had also run cable ducts through the highway, as little as 6" below the surface, merrily cutting through all the reinforcing bars in the highway, apparently under the noses of the council highways inspectors, and this had made the collapse even worse. The TV cable co and the W. Co refused to accept liability, despite the council taking them to court. The highway cost £250,000 to reconstruct, (apart from all the legal costs) but it's OK - the tax-payer paid for it.

So I hope that the council in your area recognise their statutory duty, otherwise you have a long and expensive road in front of you.

julieew

I contacted the County council who are reponsible for highways but they have just told me to contact the gas company who dug the road up.. I am waiting for the gas company to come out and do another assessment...but this does no help with any damage that may have already been made to my property...how can i ever assess this damage??

HappyMJ

My house shakes a lot whenever a train goes by. No damage is ever caused. It's quite significant ground movement. All the glasses in the cupboard rattle. The bookshelf sways. Pictures on the wall move. Doors move, creak and make cracking noises. It's not a house for playing Jenga in...it always falls down without any pieces being removed. There's a few cracks in the wall but they just seperate and rejoin whever the house moves.

iamcornholio

You need to be contacting your insurers for them to assess the property. Or get an independent survey report on its current condition

In the meantime take dated photos of current cracks and again if they get worse or when new ones appear

mart.vader

julieew wrote: »

I contacted the County council who are reponsible for highways but they have just told me to contact the gas company who dug the road up.. I am waiting for the gas company to come out and do another assessment...but this does no help with any damage that may have already been made to my property...how can i ever assess this damage??

As said by iamcornholio, if you have insurance, they should be getting involved.

I hope that your insurance covers the damage, and they force either the council, or the gas co to pay up. As the council have merely passed the buck to the gas co., (as mine did, only to the water co.) this does not sound good to me.

ian103

go back to the highways authority its their road and they will take action against the gas installer. remind them that it is their road, perhaps even photograph the damage and send it to them recording the damage.

bobthedambuilder

julieew wrote: »

I contacted the County council who are reponsible for highways but they have just told me to contact the gas company who dug the road up.. I am waiting for the gas company to come out and do another assessment...but this does no help with any damage that may have already been made to my property...how can i ever assess this damage??

The local Highways Authority is responsible for the road. They're just trying to fob you off. Write them a formal complaint letter, in which you should state that because of the condition of the road, you are holding them responsible for any damage to your house. Also say that you are not satisfied that they have asked you to liaise with the gas company when it is their responsibility to do this.

You do need to keep a formal diary and record of any cracks which appear, and photograph them regularly.

mart.vader

bobthedambuilder wrote: »

The local Highways Authority is responsible for the road. They're just trying to fob you off. Write them a formal complaint letter, in which you should state that because of the condition of the road, you are holding them responsible for any damage to your house. Also say that you are not satisfied that they have asked you to liaise with the gas company when it is their responsibility to do this.

You do need to keep a formal diary and record of any cracks which appear, and photograph them regularly.

What you say is perfectly true, however, if the OP has an insurer to take up cudgels for her, this should cut through all the council's buck-passing.

Your insurer should be recording and photographing any cracks, as the council and the gas co. will not take any notice of anything that a non-professional says. I am six years into a similar dispute with the council and about 5K out of pocket.

bobthedambuilder

mart.vader wrote: »

What you say is perfectly true, however, if the OP has an insurer to take up cudgels for her, this should cut through all the council's buck-passing.

Your insurer should be recording and photographing any cracks, as the council and the gas co. will not take any notice of anything that a non-professional says. I am six years into a similar dispute with the council and about 5K out of pocket.

Sorry to hear about your problems, I know it's a real bummer.

I was in the same situation after the electricity people dug up the road outside my house (I'm on a 40mph going on 60 road with HGV's). But I did what I've described in my previous post and got action / resolution within 3 months.