please help, scared about a wall bulge!

sciencegeek

Hi everyone,

sorry for the long post but I really hope someone can offer a bit of advice because we are really worried.

here is the situation.

We have just paid to have the rear of our terrace repointed and during the works the builders pointed out that there was a nasty crack in the morter between some bricks and that the wall was bulging and a bit twisted. They thought the old wooden lintel had become rotten and was now not properly supporting the rear gabel.
The lintel they were refering to is not a window lintel but the one that runs the width of the house and i assume is crucial to the support of the entire back wall.

I realise this could be a massive job to get done but ive no idea about the cost. A builder advised that new regs mean the lintel would have to be replaced with steel which would need 6 inches of brick to rest on, unfortunately this would mean building a pillar into the kitchen which would destroy our newly fitted units and involve moving the boiler.

Does anyone have any ideas about what this could approximately cost to do and if it might be covered under buildings insurance. The house is approx 105 years old and im concerned that the insurance company will say that the lintel has just worn out over time and is therefore our problem.
We've owned the house for approx 3 years and the survey reported no problems at all with the walls but im convinced there must have been some signs that an expert would pick up on however we obviously have no way of proving when these bulges started or indeed when the lintel began to decay.

any advice would be greatly appreciated because im terrified that we are going to need to somehow find many many thousands of pounds.

many thanks.
SG.

kitchen_buff

It might be a bit of scaremongering, but then again it might not. I think what you should do is contact a strucural engineer to have a look, the initial cost might be a bit high but it will be better advice than a builder, builders build, joiners join, plasterers plaster and so on. If it is confirmed by the strucural engineer what the builder said then he will be able to advise on going forward.

jimbo_the_jetset

I think I would contact my insurance company first. Sure it would be covered in buildings insurance (I don't think they would consider it to be wear and tear as you think).

They would at a guess send someone round to have a look who would then get a professional structural engineer out at their cost if it is deemed as bad as you describe.

I definately wouldn't leave it alone, with winter weather and frosts on the way it is only likely to get worse.

kitchen_buff

The problem is if you contact insurance first and it is nothing major that she should be concerned about, the insurance company will note it on their records, so it might go against her for future insurance premiums. But you never know until you try. so it is a 50/50 situation. So it is down to you SCIENCEGEEK.

ameliarate

kitchen_buff wrote: »

It might be a bit of scaremongering, but then again it might not. I think what you should do is contact a strucural engineer to have a look, the initial cost might be a bit high but it will be better advice than a builder, builders build, joiners join, plasterers plaster and so on. If it is confirmed by the strucural engineer what the builder said then he will be able to advise on going forward.

I would agree with this post. Get a structural engineer to look at it before you do anything else. Your local council will probably be able to make a recommendation if you don't want to just pick one from the 'phone book.

ormus

im sure they will say its due to wear and tear and therefore not covered.
why not wait until the next big winter storm? then claim.
(you may have a chance then).

elvis_girl

I would probably get a structural engineers report & then at least you'll know what your dealing with. It costs about £350 & they will be able to make recommendations as to what remedial work is required. I too had a dilemma as to whether to send an engineers report to my insurance company. In the end I worried about it until I couldn't worry about anymore! Eventually I decided to send it & then once its out there its out of my hands & if they won't pay then they won't pay!
Good Luck