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Hello, I'm after some opinions on the below issue. Apologies if this is not in the correct area as it is also related to the roof.
I recently brought an early 1900's mid terrace house that has suffered from some movement to the rear external wall on the upper level. Here are a couple of photos to show the location and uneven brickwork, you can also see that this is affecting the neighbouring property across the party wall.
Hard to se from the second photo but the neighbours window cill area is not straight as the wall is bulged.
This was picked up by my mortgage lender before the purchase and as a result a building survey was required. The survey detailed that the cause was due to the roof frame spreading open around 40mm which had then pushed the rear wall outwards. It also mentioned that a previous repair was attempted in the way of the large steel wall brace/tie (as seen in the above pictures) that is then ran through the length of house and connected to the front external wall. However, the previous repair was done without proper investigation of the root cause and as a result the roof has continued to spread which is why the brickwork around the wall brace has been pushed further, creating quite an unsightly look to that area of the wall.
Here are a few pictures of the party wall within the roof which clearly shows that something has moved (this has since been taken down and completed with a fire rated stud wall).
The survey recommended that the roof is reinforced with 2x6 timbers spanning from the lower portion of the rafter (bolted to), across the entire roof to the oppose rafter, as close to the wall plates as possible. This is to be done in 4 places, the rafters next to each party wall and then 2 evenly placed in the middle of the roof. This should then stop the roof from spreading open any further. I am currently half way through this job and should have it complete within the next week or so (I have connected one side so far).
While this should solve the root cause and prevent any further damage from happening, the issue of the pushed out wall is still something that I ideally need to deal with and this is where it gets a bit tricky.
The survey simply said that I should have the wall repointed to seal any cracks/missing mortar. As I have begun to strip the plaster from the internal walls and had a chance to get outside to inspect the damage close up, I have noticed that the wall appears to be bowing/leaning lower down to where I would expect if the roof was the main cause. Now I'm in no way trying to say that I know more than the surveyors but I do wonder if they missed some things, some of which may have been hard to see with their limited access/time.
My first example is the area of the wall alongside the upstairs window (to the left). This is leaning at an angle and has a difference of almost 50mm from bottom to top. At the window lintel it suddenly stops and then appears that the wall goes back to the original placement, this is around 3-4 brick courses before the roof/wall plate. This is also very clear when looking the the way the window has been installed to try and hide the difference between each edge as the middle of the house has no signs of movement, only the corner next to the party wall on one side (look at the lintel/window line).
Stripping off the plaster from inside also shows the same amount of deflection, again the wall suddenly resumed an almost original position towards the very top. As above, I'm not trying to suggest that the surveyor was wrong but if the roof spread had caused this then wouldn't the wall be more outward at the very top and then slowly close up towards the bottom? Or maybe this is just how they tend to go?
(note there is remnants of an old chimney in the corner of the room as seen above, this is about where the wall plate mounts too on the other side).
Finally, I don't really have a picture to show this but the downstairs wall (same location) is also leaning, although at less of an angle. This could just be wonky plastering but I thought I would mention it.
My question is around how to correct this? I have heard a few different options from either trying to straighten up a few of the worse looking bricks, all the way to rebuilding that section of the wall . The problem here is that I don't have much knowledge of how to achieve this so would need to enlist a professional however, any advice or pointers would be much appreciated so I know what to ask for.
It seems that the neighbours are not too concerned about it as they have recently built a single story extension onto the rear of their house which moulds around the bowed wall. They also don't have a wall tie/brace which may have caused more damage that good..
Thanks for reading.
I recently brought an early 1900's mid terrace house that has suffered from some movement to the rear external wall on the upper level. Here are a couple of photos to show the location and uneven brickwork, you can also see that this is affecting the neighbouring property across the party wall.
Hard to se from the second photo but the neighbours window cill area is not straight as the wall is bulged.
This was picked up by my mortgage lender before the purchase and as a result a building survey was required. The survey detailed that the cause was due to the roof frame spreading open around 40mm which had then pushed the rear wall outwards. It also mentioned that a previous repair was attempted in the way of the large steel wall brace/tie (as seen in the above pictures) that is then ran through the length of house and connected to the front external wall. However, the previous repair was done without proper investigation of the root cause and as a result the roof has continued to spread which is why the brickwork around the wall brace has been pushed further, creating quite an unsightly look to that area of the wall.
Here are a few pictures of the party wall within the roof which clearly shows that something has moved (this has since been taken down and completed with a fire rated stud wall).
The survey recommended that the roof is reinforced with 2x6 timbers spanning from the lower portion of the rafter (bolted to), across the entire roof to the oppose rafter, as close to the wall plates as possible. This is to be done in 4 places, the rafters next to each party wall and then 2 evenly placed in the middle of the roof. This should then stop the roof from spreading open any further. I am currently half way through this job and should have it complete within the next week or so (I have connected one side so far).
While this should solve the root cause and prevent any further damage from happening, the issue of the pushed out wall is still something that I ideally need to deal with and this is where it gets a bit tricky.
The survey simply said that I should have the wall repointed to seal any cracks/missing mortar. As I have begun to strip the plaster from the internal walls and had a chance to get outside to inspect the damage close up, I have noticed that the wall appears to be bowing/leaning lower down to where I would expect if the roof was the main cause. Now I'm in no way trying to say that I know more than the surveyors but I do wonder if they missed some things, some of which may have been hard to see with their limited access/time.
My first example is the area of the wall alongside the upstairs window (to the left). This is leaning at an angle and has a difference of almost 50mm from bottom to top. At the window lintel it suddenly stops and then appears that the wall goes back to the original placement, this is around 3-4 brick courses before the roof/wall plate. This is also very clear when looking the the way the window has been installed to try and hide the difference between each edge as the middle of the house has no signs of movement, only the corner next to the party wall on one side (look at the lintel/window line).
Stripping off the plaster from inside also shows the same amount of deflection, again the wall suddenly resumed an almost original position towards the very top. As above, I'm not trying to suggest that the surveyor was wrong but if the roof spread had caused this then wouldn't the wall be more outward at the very top and then slowly close up towards the bottom? Or maybe this is just how they tend to go?
(note there is remnants of an old chimney in the corner of the room as seen above, this is about where the wall plate mounts too on the other side).
Finally, I don't really have a picture to show this but the downstairs wall (same location) is also leaning, although at less of an angle. This could just be wonky plastering but I thought I would mention it.
My question is around how to correct this? I have heard a few different options from either trying to straighten up a few of the worse looking bricks, all the way to rebuilding that section of the wall . The problem here is that I don't have much knowledge of how to achieve this so would need to enlist a professional however, any advice or pointers would be much appreciated so I know what to ask for.
It seems that the neighbours are not too concerned about it as they have recently built a single story extension onto the rear of their house which moulds around the bowed wall. They also don't have a wall tie/brace which may have caused more damage that good..
Thanks for reading.
