Buying house with Structural & Damp Problem

ishi

Cakeguts wrote: »

It is a solid wall not a cavity it isn't tied onto the frame of the house which is why it is bulging. The back wall is also not helping because it is not strong enough. This isn't a case of a few wall ties.

If I read my Surveyor's reasoning for bulge wall & your reply, my understanding says: there are certain type of houses in the country where it's not possible to build extension unless one can rebuilt common wall between old house & new extension.

BTW, some additional info: The house was given planning permission in 2002 to Construct two storey side and rear extension but extension wasn't constructed(reason not known).
Assuming there was no bulging at the time of permission & now 20mm: Does it make big difference?

Cakeguts

ishi wrote: »

If I read my Surveyor's reasoning for bulge wall & your reply, my understanding says: there are certain type of houses in the country where it's not possible to build extension unless one can rebuilt common wall between old & new extension.

BTW, some additional info: The house was given planning permission in 2002 to Construct two storey side and rear extension but extension wasn't constructed(reason not known).
Assuming there was no bulging at the time of permission & now 20mm: Does it make big difference?

The way what you have written here about your survey reads to me is that there is a problem with the flank wall and that when the house was built it wasn't tied to the frame of the house properly and that it has already started to bulge and that it could continue to do this unless you do something about it.

I remember from buying a house some years ago that sometimes walls that bulged had to be rebuilt. If the bulge is due to wall ties then you replace the wall ties but if it isn't a cavity wall but a solid wall then there aren't any wall ties. Wall ties are in the cavity between the two walls that make up a cavity wall. If you have a solid wall there aren't any wall ties. However the walls do have to be tied into the frame of the house.

Your surveyor seemed to think that you could correct the wall problem by building an extension. How you do this you will have to find out if you think you still want to buy this house. The problem you have is that you don't know whether the bulge in the wall will increase or not so the only way to make sure that the bulge doesn't increase is to rebuild the wall or build an extension.

In order to find out what exactly is causing this bulge you will either have to ask the surveyor for more information or you will have to ask a structural engineer.

ishi

Cakeguts wrote: »

The way what you have written here about your survey reads to me is that there is a problem with the flank wall and that when the house was built it wasn't tied to the frame of the house properly and that it has already started to bulge and that it could continue to do this unless you do something about it.

I remember from buying a house some years ago that sometimes walls that bulged had to be rebuilt. If the bulge is due to wall ties then you replace the wall ties but if it isn't a cavity wall but a solid wall then there aren't any wall ties. Wall ties are in the cavity between the two walls that make up a cavity wall. If you have a solid wall there aren't any wall ties. However the walls do have to be tied into the frame of the house.

Your surveyor seemed to think that you could correct the wall problem by building an extension. How you do this you will have to find out if you think you still want to buy this house. The problem you have is that you don't know whether the bulge in the wall will increase or not so the only way to make sure that the bulge doesn't increase is to rebuild the wall or build an extension.

In order to find out what exactly is causing this bulge you will either have to ask the surveyor for more information or you will have to ask a structural engineer.

From Surveyor side: Building extension was optional. He suggested two solutions for bulged wall:

Traditional method: Wall tie patress plates. These are unsightly and draw attention to the defect
Modern method: Long stainless steel tie. Surveyor suggested me to contact company called Helifix for this.

robatwork

ishi wrote: »

Modern method: Long stainless steel tie. Surveyor suggested me to contact company called Helifix for this.

Are you sure he wasn't incredibly posh and the company is in Halifax?

Doozergirl

Cakeguts wrote: »

The way what you have written here about your survey reads to me is that there is a problem with the flank wall and that when the house was built it wasn't tied to the frame of the house properly and that it has already started to bulge and that it could continue to do this unless you do something about it.

I remember from buying a house some years ago that sometimes walls that bulged had to be rebuilt. If the bulge is due to wall ties then you replace the wall ties but if it isn't a cavity wall but a solid wall then there aren't any wall ties. Wall ties are in the cavity between the two walls that make up a cavity wall. If you have a solid wall there aren't any wall ties. However the walls do have to be tied into the frame of the house.

Your surveyor seemed to think that you could correct the wall problem by building an extension. How you do this you will have to find out if you think you still want to buy this house. The problem you have is that you don't know whether the bulge in the wall will increase or not so the only way to make sure that the bulge doesn't increase is to rebuild the wall or build an extension.

In order to find out what exactly is causing this bulge you will either have to ask the surveyor for more information or you will have to ask a structural engineer.

I'm not talking about cavity wall ties! There are more types of wall tie than cavity wall ties, which, incidently, only tie the two leaves of a cavity together, not into the rest of the structure. Remembering something from buying a house once is not enough experience to tell someone that the entire side of a house needs rebuilding.

The OP has come back now with the advice from their surveyor - the same that I've given.
Quote from the OP:

"Modern method: Long stainless steel tie. Surveyor suggested me to contact company called Helifix for this."

This is possibly the sort of wall tie needed:
http://www.helifix.co.uk/applications/stabilising-bowed-walls-into-joist-sides/

But you can see from that website that there are many more types of tie.

The best thing the OP can do is call their surveyor and ask them the question "If it were you, would you buy this house?". Because, despite the surveyor suggesting the appropriate remedial action that doesn't even involve consulting a structural engineer, the internet is telling them that a 20mm bulge means that the house is so bad it is essentially falling down - which is the only reason you would ever have to rebuild a wall.

If the OP is intending to build an extension onto that wall, it's the perfect opportunity to provide 'belt and braces' type support an addition to wall ties. It might be a nice idea to consult a structural engineer at the time to design something in that will essentially be invisible.

Cakeguts

The problem we all have as well as the surveyor is that none of us know if the wall is going to bulge any further. What we do know is that this bulge will need building work it isn't a DIY job.

Doozergirl

Cakeguts wrote: »

The problem we all have as well as the surveyor is that none of us know if the wall is going to bulge any further. What we do know is that this bulge will need building work it isn't a DIY job.

...but it doesn't need rebuilding.

And we know that if the problem is solved via wall ties or building an extension, that was planned anyway, that it won't bulge anymore.

Simples.

Cakeguts

Doozergirl wrote: »

...but it doesn't need rebuilding.

And we know that if the problem is solved via wall ties or building an extension, that was planned anyway, that it won't bulge anymore.

Simples.

We don't actually know whether it needs rebuilding or not do we? That will depend on whether the builder can find something to tie the wall to. Because we don't know where the bulge is exactly and if it is next to the stairs which is what the surveyor implied there might not be anything to put the wall ties into. The problem is that no one knows and probably no one will know for absolute certain until a structural engineer has had a look.

It isn't that unusual to have flank walls rebuilt because of bulges. So I wanted to make sure that the buyer had worst case because it isn't going to be very pleasant if they think that you can just tie the wall to the joists of the house and then find that they can't. The fact that the wall may need to be rebuilt has to be considered especially since none of us actually know how the house was constructed.

To be honest I wouldn't buy this house unless I had a really lot of spare cash because you just don't know what you are going to find. If I could find a house without a bulge in the wall I would go for that first before buying one with a bulge in the wall

Doozergirl

Okay, I get it. You're prepared to cover your tracks and take this round in circles to save yourself looking silly. The surveyor has made their recommendation, you think you know better.

You 'bought a house once', heard something and are an expert. But didn't know about wall ties this time yesterday. I'm sure Google has helped.

Cakeguts

Doozergirl wrote: »

Okay, I get it. You're prepared to cover your tracks and take this round in circles to save yourself looking silly. The surveyor has made their recommendation, you think you know better.

You 'bought a house once', heard something and are an expert. But didn't know about wall ties this time yesterday. I'm sure Google has helped.

Not quite the case. I do know what tie bars are we have a house with them in it. They tie the walls to the frame of the house and to each other. Some of the walls though were past this stage and had to be rebuilt.