Structural Report Result - Advice needed

ghost3h

I'll try and keep it short...Just had a structural report through for a house I'm looking to buy.

Looking for advice on should I continue to buy, and rough costs for work.

The house is semi detached with a side garage, the remote wall from the house has some cracks that the surveyor is concerned about. Image of the report and associated cracks below.

Any advice is appreciated!

Report
imgur.com/a/rTA5c


Photo G - imgur.com/a/E8cSQ
Photo H - imgur.com/a/fw627
Photo J - imgur.com/a/HPw1h

Apologies for linking like this, but dont have account privileges to post images/links yet

Kyle

Browntoa

Report www.imgur.com/a/rTA5c




Photo G - www.imgur.com/a/E8cSQ
Photo H - www.imgur.com/a/fw627
Photo J - www.imgur.com/a/HPw1h

Doozergirl

It's an issue that needs addressing, but your house isn't falling down.

You need a structural engineer to detail the remedial work required.

Your choice on whether you continue but it's a single skin wall. It's not going to be the best performing thing on the planet, but a single skin garage in a period property is not unusual.

DaftyDuck

Date of property? As Doozer, it's a garage, single-storey, single-skin. They often fail. In the massive 1930's Urban Expansion Programme, garages were used as a selection tool for trainee brickies (as were ship's carpenter's chests a hundred years earlier). The young brickie was set the job of building the garage; if he did a really good - quick - job, he'd be taken on. If he just did a really good job, he'd not.


Garages also often fail because the foundations were non-existent, as there was seldom anything on top. Last 1930's house I did up, had a splendid coach-house annex on top of the garage, and it was falling down from the day it was built. The front was pulling away from the sides, helped by the fact it was a triple garage with a single pillar supporting the next floor... scarily like a trampoline, up there!

Also... they used to have side-rolling doors, suspended and supported on rails top and bottom. They opened smoothly, until they didn't, and were then left to rust (and... expand....), were then forced open with a sledge hammer, then failed to shut, leaving the gaping mouth at the mercy of the wind...

... until replaced with an "up and over", and in the '60's they weighed a tonne. Slam! up... SLAM! down...

Oh, and that cross member by the crack, that's wood, innit? Which has been wrongly fitted, and has expanded and contracted.... helping the crack on its way...

There's also plenty of signs of damp penetration on that roof, right by the beam... contract... expand....contract... Black roof, hot summer... shrink...

For once, I'll risk the wrath of Doozer, and disagree. Structural engineer? Paf! Why? It's a garage. If it's JUST the garage, and the house is unaffected, getting a decent brickie in to cut out and replace those bricks, it'll cover the defect for fifty years, until it (slowly) reappears. If it does. By then, you'll have converted it into a separate room for holo-hockey.

I'll dig out my survey....

shortcrust

There's no way that would put me off a purchase. I'd just leave it and deal with it if and when it started causing problems.

DaftyDuck

Here's my survey, from 3 years ago...

5.01 Garage

There is a triple detached garage to the right side of the building.

The walls are of cavity construction, being part brick faced and part rendered with
timber facings externally, with a brick inter leaf visible internally, beneath a pitched
and half hipped timber framed roof structure covered with plain clay tiles. There are
two metal-up-and-over doors to the front (untested) and a further up-and-over door to
the rear.

Substantial storage within the garage restricted our inspection.

Evidence of structural movement was observed to the garage in the form of outward
bowing to the upper sections of the flank walls, particularly evident when inspecting
the gutters and fascia boards secured to the base of the side roof slopes, and also
evident internally where the inner leafs of the side walls notably lean outwards at high
level as they increase in height. The nature of the movement is indicative of outward
movement of the roof structure (roof spread), likely to have been caused by a lack of
restraint. The movement is thought to be significant and likely to be progressive. You
should therefore appoint a Structural Engineer or Chartered Building Surveyor to
assess the full cause and extent of the movement and provide a detailed specification
of all necessary works required to ensure future stability. This should include further
comment on the vertical fracturing evident internally to the front right corner of the
garage and external cracks through rendered finishes.

Sorted by a good builder... cost £350...

Cracking internally over the rear up-and-over door is considered to be the result of
shrinkage of the timber lintel. Cracking should be suitably made good.
He missed the substantial cracking at the front...
lintels were rusting metal (visible), joists slipped from wall support.
Sorted myself (with help), cost around £100

The walls are believed to be formed in two skins held together by metal wall ties. The
wall-ties used in properties constructed before 1981 are prone to corrosion, which
can lead to structural movement. The condition of these ties cannot be properly
ascertained without opening up the structure. Yawn... yeah, yeah

General weathering and deterioration are apparent to the walls, including defective
mortar between brickwork courses and deterioration to rendered finishes and timber
dressings. Sympathetic repairs are required to reduce the risk of moisture ingress
and further deterioration.

Tidying and maintenance is required to the tiled roof coverings, with several broken
and slipped tiles apparent, particularly to the left slope, which require re-positioning or
replacement as appropriate. Opening of joints between tiles was also noted in
places, which we suspect may be attributable to the roof spread noted above.

Rainwater fittings and external joinery are in want of substantial overhaul or
replacement.

We noted evidence of wood boring beetle infestation to timbers within the garage,
though we could not positively confirm whether this is active. nope, long deadYou are referred to our
further comments under Section 3.19. which absolve us of anything and everything whatsoever yah boo sucks

I was going to show you photos of the cracks, but they aren't on the online version of the report... there are several bricks split in half, one falling out as the mortar failed, cracks travelling from ground to roof height (remember this one had an extra floor, and double skin walls... The mortar was friable and loose on one side (no doubt poor mix by brickie who wouldn't have been taken on for a house.....)

The garages around that time were a flamboyant extra; most houses had none, having one (or three!!!) was a statement. They were thrown up quickly, cheaply, and often without plans. The inexperienced used them to learn the job, the experienced wouldn't deign to bother with one.

They fall down. Very. ... very...... very .... slowly!

ghost3h

Thanks for the reply, very enlightening! It is a 1930 built house

The issue with it is the mortgage company though. They valued it at 0 due to this structural movement, and so it depends what they say after seeing the report.

How much would it cost to:

Brace up and repair
Rebuild entire side wall

A rough price gives me something to argue with the seller and try and reduce the price. I had far off future plans to build a extension on top of the garage. Assuming the 2 pillars and single skin wall wouldn't be sufficient enough to build on top of?

Kyle

DaftyDuck

No chance whatsoever of building on top. None.

Brace and repair? £500 for a cheap, simple fix by a jobbing builder... which would suffice. £3,000 for wall rebuild or £6,000 for rebuild and reroof. But, I do get jobs done well for little. You may well pay much more.