Knocked a wall down without engineer

[cdbe]

Yeah, just take a chance! The reality is that people can and do pull out of purchases, or ask for reductions of thousands for work that could be regularised for hundreds.

To quote Clint, "do you feel lucky?"

Just make your mind up that you will definitely get it sorted if you're notifying the council - once they are aware of the issue you can't get one of those Mickey Mouse indemnity policies (another expensive and in itself worthless piece of paper) - which might placate an only moderately nervous buyer.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

This is all fine, all assuming the builder did actually fit a fit for purpose lintel and the new layout doesn't compromise the escape routes etc.

Just saying.

 

[blup]

Yeah, just take a chance! The reality is that people can and do pull out of purchases, or ask for reductions of thousands for work that could be regularised for hundreds.

To quote Clint, "do you feel lucky?"

Just make your mind up that you will definitely get it sorted if you're notifying the council - once they are aware of the issue you can't get one of those Mickey Mouse indemnity policies (another expensive and in itself worthless piece of paper) - which might placate an only moderately nervous buyer.

Notify BC, if it's a problem you have an opportunity to rectify it. If not you have the piece of paper when selling it. Buyers use these omissions to lower their offer.

Blup

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Notify BC, if it's a problem you have an opportunity to rectify it. If not you have the piece of paper when selling it. Buyers use these omissions to lower their offer.

Blup

As soon as the OP contacts BC that will make an indemnity impossible, which is likely the best scenario the OP can hope for.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Just have a look, google the standards and decide whether it's safe or not. Chip some plaster off if necessary. If not then get it fixed, probably with BC involvement.

Don't give the council £100s for a worthless piece of paper. They can't make it safe if it isn't.

The relax, don't worry about it and do something positive.

 

[mrrusty]

It's a 1.8m opening!! Even the smallest section (concrete) lintels the local merchant sells (65x100) go up to 2.4m length, and I expect the builder used something a little larger anyway. I'm no SE but IMHO, there isn't much you can put across a 1.8m opening that isn't going to be OK in an ordinary terraced house. Unless there are visible signs of movement cracks in the plaster, I'd leave well alone and get on with your life.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

It does depend on what's above it, possibly another wall for the storey above. I don't think those skinny lintels are supposed to be universal - OK for a bungalow, beyond that needs sums doing.

It might be worth chipping some plaster off and posting photos of the lintel end, including how much bearing it has. I'm sure someone here would give an idea as to whether the house is going to fall down or not.

But don't worry about resale. I'll be dead by the time our place is sold, I definitely won't care.

 

[noseall]

It does depend on what's above it, possibly another wall for the storey above. I don't think those skinny lintels are supposed to be universal - OK for a bungalow, beyond that needs sums doing.

Wrong.

PCC lintels work in composite with the masonry. The more there is above it the better. Point loads however are a different matter and would depend largely on proximity to the lintel. 1.8m is not an alarm bells sized opening.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

I get your point, that it basically just stops the bricks falling apart. But I'm sure there definitely is a limit and that a structural engineer would know what it is. Put one in the base of a tower block, I'm pretty sure there'd be an issue pretty soon.

If they really were that good you could span the Humber estuary with one, just build a few courses of bricks on top, job done instead of all that concrete and steel cables nonsense. In fact we should just give up civil engineering altogether, do it all with lintels.

But my point is that I don't know, so I would ask the advice of others. And be wary of internet advice!

 

[robinbanks]

Put one in the base of a tower block

It doesn't work like that

you could span the Humber estuary with one

It doesn't work like that either

do it all with lintels.

We already do a considerable amount of civil engineering with the same pre-stressed concrete technology as lintels use

To give any more targeted advice we'd need to see a picture of the walls

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

1. We already do a considerable amount of civil engineering with the same pre-stressed concrete technology as lintels use

2. To give any more targeted advice we'd need to see a picture of the walls

1. Yes, but not 6cm tall ones.

2. Agreed, as I and others have already said. Requires some plaster damage, if not it will for ever be a mystery.

 

[Dereekoo]

I get your point, that it basically just stops the bricks falling apart. But I'm sure there definitely is a limit and that a structural engineer would know what it is. Put one in the base of a tower block, I'm pretty sure there'd be an issue pretty soon.

You could indeed put one at the bottom of a tower block as a lintel supporting brickwork only supports the area above it contained by a 45 degree triangle emanating from the edges of the lintel to half the length of the lintel above it, all the other brickwork loading outside this zone corbels outwards and is taken by the underlying brickwork to the side of the lintel. i.e. take the lintel away and a triangular piece of brickwork would drop down. (ever seen those war damaged homes where there are big holes but the brickwork above stays in place). Of course if you have other forces acting within that triangular area zone, the zone of influence (beams, floor joists, window sections, etc) then things aren't that simple.

 

[robinbanks]

if you have other forces acting within that triangular area

It's often not quite that simple as to look only at the triangle, and the angle also isn't necessarily 45, but I appreciate the point you're making.

Really, we need to see pictures to comment further

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

You could indeed put one at the bottom of a tower block as a lintel supporting brickwork only supports the area above it contained by a 45 degree triangle emanating from the edges of the lintel to half the length of the lintel above it, all the other brickwork loading outside this zone corbels outwards and is taken by the underlying brickwork to the side of the lintel. i.e. take the lintel away and a triangular piece of brickwork would drop down. (ever seen those war damaged homes where there are big holes but the brickwork above stays in place). Of course if you have other forces acting within that triangular area zone, the zone of influence (beams, floor joists, window sections, etc) then things aren't that simple.

Nice tidy theory but if life really was this simple then you could span any size opening with a 6cm lintel just by putting enough courses of bricks over it. The fact that massive steels are often required to be used in 2 storey houses suggests that this isn't always the case.

 

[Dereekoo]

Nice tidy theory but if life really was this simple then you could span any size opening with a 6cm lintel just by putting enough courses of bricks over it. The fact that massive steels are often required to be used in 2 storey houses suggests that this isn't always the case.

Your logic is a bit amiss, the greater the opening size, the greater the triangle of supported brickwork hence the greater the load hence the greater the induced bending moment hence the collapse of the 6cm lintel.