Bulge above the new patio doors

sad2k

We have done a structural survey on the terraced house we are looking to buy and the surveyor is concerned about the patio doors the seller has just installed, specifically that they are rendered around (rather than covered with bricks like the rest of the house) and that there is this bulge above the doors, he's thinking this may be hiding some defect. I will be having a chat with the surveyor later but some people I showed this to think that this indicates that when the opening was made for the doors the lintel was installed incorrectly / was wrong size etc so there was a movement in the construction and this may further affect the wall above it as well (it's a three storey building).

Does anyone have any thoughts about how bad this is and what the impact might be?  Also how would I investigate this further, will I need a structural engineer to look at this?

Thanks

stuart45

Has it been signed off by Building Control? That's the trouble with render, it hides problems.

sad2k

Apparently yes it has, but I haven't seen any engineering details yet, just the building control approval

stuart45

It could well be structurally sound, but the new facework was poor quality so it was rendered to cover it up. If there was movement in the wall, you would expect to see some cracks in the render.

sad2k

Ok thanks - any ideas how would I investigate this further? Would I need to bring a builder or a structural engineer? Would they be able to tell anything without removing the render?

TELLIT01

Many properties built in the 60s, and possibly later, had no lintel supporting the outer skin of brickwork.  It was supported purely by the timber window or door frame beneath.  As a consequence, when that was removed and UPVC fitted there was settlement and it can be quite severe.

I suspect that is what is being hidden by the render.

sad2k

TELLIT01 said:

Many properties built in the 60s, and possibly later, had no lintel supporting the outer skin of brickwork.  It was supported purely by the timber window or door frame beneath.  As a consequence, when that was removed and UPVC fitted there was settlement and it can be quite severe.

I suspect that is what is being hidden by the render.

Thanks. I'm yet to see the engineering details of this project but I'd imagine that the steel lintel was installed above the doors (maybe incorrectly).  Are you saying they might not have done that at all?

Also if there was a 'settlement' (do you mean a movement in the wall by that?) is that fixable (by redoing the whole thing)? Would something need to be fixed in the upper wall as well? Or is it better to just pull out?

stuart45

Was there a patio door before, or was a new opening created?
If it was signed off by BC there is a good chance the correct limtel has been installed. However the way the face brickwork looks is less of a concern for a BCO. 
Without removal of some render an SE couldn't really assess it properly.
M guess would be that the face brickwork looked a bit rough, so it was rendered.

sad2k

stuart45 said:

Was there a patio door before, or was a new opening created?
If it was signed off by BC there is a good chance the correct limtel has been installed. However the way the face brickwork looks is less of a concern for a BCO. 
Without removal of some render an SE couldn't really assess it properly.
M guess would be that the face brickwork looked a bit rough, so it was rendered.

It is a new opening - see the neighbouring house:

stuart45

With a new opening and signed off by BC the odds are that the correct lintel has been used. The bulge you can see is probably the render not screeded properly, and also they have chamfered it back so it's level with the brickwork. If there was any deflection in the lintel you should see some cracks in the render and brickwork above. Cement render does not bulge out like that normally when dry without cracks appearing.