Cavity wall tie replacement

RealNameDesmond

Hi there,
I am currently in the process of purchasing my first property which I am lead to believe by the vendor is in need of cavity wall tie replacement. He has no formal evidence or quote for this but has reported many other houses in the street have required this as they are all 1930's properties. With the vendor's permission I will be arranging a quotation once I have the structural survey completed next week.
I was wondering what I should expect in terms of quotations for wall tie replacement on a 3 bedroom semi-detached house in Cardiff and will the external render need to be removed?
I would really appreciate any advice on this as previous forums are a little old and I would like to have some up-to-date information.


Many Thanks

teneighty

£1000 to £1500 and no, just some drill holes and maybe cutting out a few bricks (depends on what type the original ties are).

MX5huggy

Make sure your surveyor has no vested interest. My house had new cavity ties before I purchased it, they don't take the old ones out just put new ones in. But I have done some work and seen the old ties there is no corrosion.

I have also insulated my walls with walltite this expanding foam insulation glues the two walls together so you don't need the new wall ties, it insulates better than the beads or fibre and has made a drastic improvement to my 1930's house. It's not cheap and you can't get a grant but if you need wall ties and insulation it's what I would do.

Furts

MX5huggy wrote: »

Make sure your surveyor has no vested interest. My house had new cavity ties before I purchased it, they don't take the old ones out just put new ones in. But I have done some work and seen the old ties there is no corrosion.

I have also insulated my walls with walltite this expanding foam insulation glues the two walls together so you don't need the new wall ties, it insulates better than the beads or fibre and has made a drastic improvement to my 1930's house. It's not cheap and you can't get a grant but if you need wall ties and insulation it's what I would do.

I would add that the entire wall tie replacement industry is smoke and mirrors. Nobody checks to see if the replacement wall ties are at the correct locations, nor at the correct centres. Even if these items are correct nobody checks to ensure they have been installed correctly. As an example, there is possibly not a single resin fixed replacement wall tie installed correctly in the UK.

You might even find that your proposed purchase has already had replacement wall ties installed and you are being sucked into paying for this again.

So look carefully at proposals and scrutinise how it will be done. Seek BBA Approval, or similar. Inspect the work in progress like a hawk. Then cross your fingers and hope for the best.

Finally, rely on ignorance being bliss because this is the default mode with replacement wall ties - out of sight and out of mind.

teneighty

Furts wrote: »

I would add that the entire wall tie replacement industry is smoke and mirrors. Nobody checks to see if the replacement wall ties are at the correct locations, nor at the correct centres. Even if these items are correct nobody checks to ensure they have been installed correctly. As an example, there is possibly not a single resin fixed replacement wall tie installed correctly in the UK.

You might even find that your proposed purchase has already had replacement wall ties installed and you are being sucked into paying for this again.

So look carefully at proposals and scrutinise how it will be done. Seek BBA Approval, or similar. Inspect the work in progress like a hawk. Then cross your fingers and hope for the best.

Finally, rely on ignorance being bliss because this is the default mode with replacement wall ties - out of sight and out of mind.

Bit cynical. I have done a few larger wall tie replacement projects and I insert a clause in the contract to do a 10% random pull test. If the contractor knows they are being watched and their work will be tested they are less inclined to cut corners. Bit OTT for a one off small residential project but not all firms are cowboys. Just make sure you do your homework so that you understand the process and you are less likely to get taken for a ride.

whatatotaljoke

I charge about 1000-1400 for a 3 bed average semi.
Install, isolate & guarantee.

I also agree that MOST company's certainly do not follow set patterns/standards as in all industries.

MisterBaxter

As with many of these things I find that an independent surveyor can throw up different results to a company that 'specialises' in this type of work.

We (I was doing interim management work at the time) surveyed the majority of council houses on a council estate when rumours starting going around about wall tie failure; the rumour came from a wall tie replacement specialist who was surveying the ex-council houses and undertaking renewals for what was described as 'serious defects'. The councils retained structural engineer charged for the surveys and found numerous small issues on a number of the properties but no issues with the wall ties. It is unlikely that only the houses that had been sold were defective when all of the others were OK.

There is always a risk when you use a company with a vested interest in finding a problem to fix.

An independent surveyor will also advise on specifications and will check the completed work if there does turn out to be a problem.