Soil investigation/borehole for new ground floor extension - advice needed!

Kate0408

Thanks for your replies!

Yes, we are in England (North Essex). The problem with using the original foundations is that our new SE does not want to put his name to them! When we showed various builders the foundation plan, they all thought it was way overboard and more complicated than need be.

I think because we are built to our boundary and will require a retaining wall to that side, we just accepted that the foundations would be more tricky (we are also on a hill and our property abuts to next doors pathway which is approx 1metre above our property level).

My husband is keen to use this SE as he feels confident the job will be done properly - however, I'd like to keep costs down if something is not necessarily required!

Beenie

I will follow this with interest. We too are in Essex and are wanting to build an extension (single storey).

The builder we propose to use has mentioned that we are on 'terminal morain' and he won't know how to do the foundations until a SE has verified the soil type (shale, clay, whatever).

We are still at application stage so will see what the Planning dept says.

Kate0408

Yes, I think Building Control is the next port of call for us. I will certainly keep you posted - I'm sure moving would be less hassle but we love where we are and suitable properties don't come up for sale very often!