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Just bought house with a low arch that hid an unsecured lintel do I have any recourse
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That is why I would never buy a property which has been extended by someone else. Most people won't care about the quality of the work as long as it looks ok on the surface especially if they know they will eventually sell it.
I disagree. You must bear in mind that I only ever take on houses that need work! Most people do care about their house being safe and most tradespeople are conscientious.
I've seen the work of Victorian cowboy builders too, in some apparantly beautiful houses. Remember that most houses weren't built to any formal regulations, so to look particularly at an extension as a potential culprit doesn't entirely make sense.
The arch in this case is actually really quite unusual. Most knock throughs, even without regs have been done by someone with an idea of the right way to do things even if it isn't perfectly engineered.Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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Doozergirl wrote: »I disagree. You must bear in mind that I only ever take on houses that need work! Most people do care about their house being safe and most tradespeople are conscientious.
I've seen the work of Victorian cowboy builders too, in some apparantly beautiful houses. Remember that most houses weren't built to any formal regulations, so to look particularly at an extension as a potential culprit doesn't entirely make sense.
The arch in this case is actually really quite unusual. Most knock throughs, even without regs have been done by someone with an idea of the right way to do things even if it isn't perfectly engineered.
Yes, but then I wouldn't buy a Victorian property either.
The people who will care that the work is done properly are those who are going to live in it for the long term and it will probably stay in the family so is unlikely to come up for sale.
People who have bought a property to do up and sell on will not care as long as it looks ok. The couple opposite me have just done that - the got some builders to cap over the soffits and facias and the same builders extended the house so goodness only knows what the quality of the extension was.0 -
Yes, but then I wouldn't buy a Victorian property either.
The people who will care that the work is done properly are those who are going to live in it for the long term and it will probably stay in the family so is unlikely to come up for sale.
People who have bought a property to do up and sell on will not care as long as it looks ok. The couple opposite me have just done that - the got some builders to cap over the soffits and facias and the same builders extended the house so goodness only knows what the quality of the extension was.
Some people who buy to do up and sell on don't care, but many do. Most people who sell on are owner occupiers anyway. Anybody who lives in a house wants it to be safe for themselves and building regulations are there for a very good reason!
People don't ask for jobs to be bodged. They often don't know what they need and people do take cheap quotes. But new builds are also thrown up with no love at all in the cheapest way. It's not discovered by homeowers until kitchens and bathrooms are replaced.
There is absolutely no way to generalise about people's attitudes or build quality. There just isn't. I don't believe the OPs vendor ever understood that they were sat under a dangerous structure for 15 years.
By the way, there's nothing wrong with capping fascias and soffits!Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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Doozergirl wrote: »
By the way, there's nothing wrong with capping fascias and soffits!
Well, you should know, but when I asked the question on here a year or so ago everyone said you shouldn't do it.0 -
Doozergirl wrote: »Four of us on the DIY board had to convince the OP that it was a terrible risk. What was there is as bad an example of building work as I've ever seen. It was utterly negligent. What needed supporting doesn't even overhang the cantelevered blocks. It has zero integrity.
I genuinely think it was so bad that the surveyor wouldn't have thought it was possible for it to be standing if it was structurally important. That is why it was missed.
Its stood for this long, yet forum experts claim it unsafe, laughable.Official MR B fan club,dont go............................0 -
Its stood for this long, yet forum experts claim it unsafe, laughable.
Not a forum. At least one incredibly experienced and award winning builder and other trade professionals who guided the OP. Funnily enough, within a matter of a few weeks, the OP has consulted with a structural engineer, had the work carried out properly and had it signed off.
That is all the evidence you need of what a forum does. I cannot recall a time in eleven and a half years on this forum where I have told someone to go out and get acrow props immediately.
Whether it has stood for 15 years is by the by. The OP tells us that is the outside wall of their house! A brick wall and the weight of the roof above is vast and cannot be held by half a cantilevered block on each side. It is not just the lintel that carries the weight of a wall, the weight has to be transferred properly down to the ground with sufficient overhang at either side. Virtually none of that load was transferred down into the ground. The fact that it is still up there does not make it structurally sound. The OP disturbing that ridiculous set up recently by removing the 'arch' could have caused mayhem.Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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But somehow it was being transferred! Not safely, not reliably, and it may have been putting a lot of lateral and torsional load on the rest of the structure, but ultimately the load was not defying gravity!Doozergirl wrote: »Virtually none of that load was transferred down into the ground...0 -
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But somehow it was being transferred! Not safely, not reliably, and it may have been putting a lot of lateral and torsional load on the rest of the structure, but ultimately the load was not defying gravity!
Until one day it doesn't.
This is the most ridiculous conversation.Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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But somehow it was being transferred! Not safely, not reliably, and it may have been putting a lot of lateral and torsional load on the rest of the structure, but ultimately the load was not defying gravity!
So not right. If it's being done, do it right.
If something is unsafe, it's unsafe. Regardless of when it fails.0
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