Front porch cracking up

Ectophile

I have a front porch on the front of the house that was obviously added on after the house was built. As a result, the foundations aren't tied to the house's. The house is built on clay soil, which shrinks whenever there's a drought.


So now we have another dry spell, and the blockwork stub wall of the porch is sinking further away from the house. In places the gaps between the blockwork of the porch and the wall of the house are as big as 1.7cm. The roof of the porch is screwed to the house, and isn't going anywhere. The front door frame is totally warped, so the front door needs a hard slam to shut it. Not surprisingly, there are cracks all over the place.


I could have the whole lot knocked down and rebuilt. But I don't want to be back in the same position again in a few years time. Is there a right way of doing it when I know that the ground underneath the porch will shrink and expand with the weather?

Doozergirl

Build it with proper foundations.

Porches aren't subject to Building Control so they are mainly built on the cheap. It's not so much about not being tied in (although it's important) - it will almost certainly be a lack of foundations that are at least 1 metre deep. Ideally they'd be suited to the ground conditions.