sunsidence or nothing to worry about ??

Thanks for the advice,
it hadn't even crossed my mind that it could be related to the drain. It'll probably be the weekend before i am home in daylight; midnight photography is one thing- digging up the garden is another. Might end up in the local loony bin if i did.

pb
 
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:LOL:

is he known to Haringey mental health services?

I'll keep an eye out- how do i recognise him?
 
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Black wavy hair, pirate ear-ring, a bit of a romany accent, and going on and on about stuff he knows little about - brickwork mainly.

If you see him ask him for my wheels back and the kids clothes off the washing line
 
And would he kindly come back and lay more than 2mm of tarmac on my drive this time, please :cry:
 
lol you fell for that old one? I'm shocked :eek:

Have you tried the mobile number he gave you?
 
Call me naive, but unfortunately yes - and I also got done by the LA after he kindly removed some stuff for me at a very good rate but, unfortunately, apparently dumped it on the side of one of the back roads nearby.

The number seems to connect to some old trout offering me a hand job :confused:
 
Hi,
I've just been outside and been digging around the down pipe. I've put a photo on my album (with one of the house again in case my previous link doesn't work anymore)

//network.diynot.com/puzzlebobble/albums/

the white wall is the front of the house. The brick to the right is part of the garden wall between the two houses. Just out of view to the bottom of the photo is the side wall of the rectangular bay window.

I've dug down to below the level of next doors garden and a bit deeper. As you can see it's in an awkward to get to. I've had to stop as it's more in my neighbours' garden than mine and they are out (not to mention that i can't feel my fingers and it started snowing).

as far as I've got there are no signs of leak. It is metal so far.

I haven't ever dug up a downpipe. How much below the surface is it likely to run? Can I tell which direction it will run in?

How likely is it that the pipe is causing a problem? I'd need to convince my neighbours before changing it; it may even require digging their garden up.

Is the problem with metal that it leaks more often? Could i put anything it it which would seal any small holes?

thanks for any advice you've got.
 
ps. it was mentioned that from the photo the house might be leaning to the right a bit. I've put a long piece of wood on the windowsill and couldn't find one with a spirit level. I couldn't think of a more accurate way of doing it than that with what I've got.
 
If your basement is immediately behind the rwp location, see if the brickwork is damp. Unless it goes down to the same level as the bay foundations (which go down to basement level I believe?), then leaks from this may not have an effect on the bearing soils.

However, as it's cast iron, it's unlikely to be completely watertight and it would be prident to replace it in plastic flex-jointed pipe, regardless.

Although the cause is not immeidately obvious from the info posted, the movement to the bay is of a low order and, at this stage, it's not worth undertaking more extensive investigations, or getting a professional firm in to have a look-see. I would suggest repairing the cracks, either by stitching in of similar bricks, or cutting in helibar across the crack/s, putting some expamet over the area of repair, making good to the plaster and redecorating. That way, it can self-monitor as any significant reopening would suggest the possibility of further movement and the need to undertake more extensive investigation at that time.

Perhaps Woody can call round one afternoon, after doing some beam calcs, a survey or two and before answering damp questions... :LOL:
 
thanks Shytalkz for your reply.

The basement is immediately behind the rwp location and in that region of the basement is only 1m deep. I would imagine that the rwp does go down as far as at least the top of the foundations. The bricks do not feel damp to the touch. I did a little digging beneath where there might be a crack in the basement wall. There does appear to be a crack in the foundation and I pulled up two feet of approx 8mm root coming out from the crack. I'm not sure which plant it could be from as there's nothing very big in that part of the garden. Although there is an ivy plant which never got more than 1m high but refuses to die.

Does that make any difference to the plan? How do you attach the expamet to the brickwork?- I guess it shouldn't be stronger than victorian brick?

I'll have a chat with the neighbours about the pipe.

If woody is that quiet maybe he could calculate if these pieces of timber are doing any good:

P1060078.jpg


They're in the other end of the basement. the bottom one is just sat on the dirt floor. the top one is just pushed against the two joists nearest the upright. None of them have any nails/screws etc and the joists above look ok. I'm guessing maybe the floor creaked or something and someone just wedged them in. Still given that none of the three are at right angles to anything woody might find the maths fun.
 
Ah, ok, so it's not a full depth basement then. At that depth (and the footings look like they're almost at floor level, going by your last pic), then water seepage may well get down to foundation level, even if the pipe invert is at a higher level. My guess is that the pipe is not watertight, that the roots have got into it as well (water for the plant), making the defects worse.

Dig it up, replace it, fix the cracks as suggested before. The expamet is only to (attempt to) stop the new plasterwork cracking; often it just moves any cracking along to the end of the expamet, though. If the bricks are cut out and stitch repaired, then often there's no need for expamet. Either way, it's not an important matter in the scheme of things.

Woody reckoned thermal movement, eh?! Would you trust him with timber or beam calcs? :LOL:
 
The basement is a mix of full depth and half. beneath the bay window and behind rwp it is half depth.

I'll have a chat with my neighbours and get it sorted.

Many thanks for your advice!
 

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