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Hi. Firstly as background to the problem, some pics;
South Facing Gable Wall - which takes full force of the wind.
Close-up - Gable Wall Crack1.
Close-up - Gable Wall Crack2.
Internal Surface of Gable Wall - Front Room
Internal Surface of Gable Wall - Kitchen/Diner.
The following pics 9 months later - Back and Front Walls
Back Wall - between neighbouring properties (semi-d's).
Back Wall - between bedroom windows
Front Wall - 2x Vertical Cracks - running directly beneath box room window.
The internal pics and those of the Gable wall were taken 9 months ago. They have deteriorated since then.
Summary of investigation into issue thus far
The property is a semi-detached - built 2005/6. It's subject to a 10 year structural guarantee - and I'm trying to claim via that guarantee.
Initially, the diagnosis via an engineer I retained was defective rendering. I've been fighting with the insurance company for 9 months and they say that they accept liability (verbally - I've asked them to put this in writing - specifically what they are taking responsibility for and how they intend to address the problem).
As is the nature of insurance companies, they have not made this easy! They initially claimed that the render even if defective was not responsible for water ingress all the way through to the inside of the dwelling! They made me prove that. I had two 2x1 sections of the outer leaf removed;
Gable Wall with outer leaf section removed.
It showed that bonded bead insulation had been used. I live in an area that the Agrement Certificate for bonded bead says is 'severely exposed' in terms of driving rain - and that under such circumstances, the product may be used IF the wall is rendered. The inference is that if the render is not watertight, the bead will conduct water as the bead itself is filling the cavity - and the whole point of the cavity is to prevent water ingress.
Secondly, a cable tie was exposed as part of that process - and found to have a complete mortar snot all along it from outer to inner leaf - acting as a cold bridge and definitely conducting water.
The bead itself was wet to the touch when we removed it.
My cause for concern right now is that I find it difficult to believe this is simply a rendering issue. Nobody - professional or otherwise - can explain to me how the wall could be rendered so badly as to result in uniform horizontal cracking like that (with the exception of that one instance of vertical cracking at the front of the house).
The only 'supposition' their engineer and my engineer could make was that the plasterers plastered the house in stages. This didn't sound plausible to me - and I asked a couple of plasterers if this was possible - they say it would never happen. I then managed to find someone who worked on the development as a labourer back then. He told me that they were plastered in one hit - as you would expect. It's important to note that these horizontal cracks are visible (to greater or lesser degrees) on ALL gable walls in this development of 30 houses. I asked him about the cracking and he believes its due to subsidence - as the complete site was filled and raised immediately before it was built on. He showed me the back of another house in the development - and pointed out an area where the ground has sloped away.
I have reason to believe that my own engineers views cant be trusted (due to professional links with the engineers the insurance company are using). Therefore, I'm trying to at least figure out as much as I can myself before engaging another professional.
Does anyone have any thoughts on specifically what type of damage this looks like? Does anyone have any ideas as to what steps I could take to investigate the actual cause at this point?
If it is subsidence, I have another difficulty in that the insurance policy includes this exclusion;
"Loss or damage caused by or consequent upon subsidence, heave or landslip unless such loss or damage is as a result of a defect in the design, workmanship, materials or components of the Structure of a Housing Unit."
The foundation is a raft foundation rather than strip foundation. Other than one small internal crack, there is no other evidence of cracking on any internal wall or floor surface.
If it is subsidence, the only way I can get this covered is to prove that the design of the raft (and my understanding is that a raft has to be engineered to suit the individual circumstances - and in this case, a site that was substantially backfilled) was inappropriate for site conditions.
Naturally, I will need professional help but before that, I need a better understanding of the scenario myself. I've already been led astray once already.
South Facing Gable Wall - which takes full force of the wind.
Close-up - Gable Wall Crack1.
Close-up - Gable Wall Crack2.
Internal Surface of Gable Wall - Front Room
Internal Surface of Gable Wall - Kitchen/Diner.
The following pics 9 months later - Back and Front Walls
Back Wall - between neighbouring properties (semi-d's).
Back Wall - between bedroom windows
Front Wall - 2x Vertical Cracks - running directly beneath box room window.
The internal pics and those of the Gable wall were taken 9 months ago. They have deteriorated since then.
Summary of investigation into issue thus far
The property is a semi-detached - built 2005/6. It's subject to a 10 year structural guarantee - and I'm trying to claim via that guarantee.
Initially, the diagnosis via an engineer I retained was defective rendering. I've been fighting with the insurance company for 9 months and they say that they accept liability (verbally - I've asked them to put this in writing - specifically what they are taking responsibility for and how they intend to address the problem).
As is the nature of insurance companies, they have not made this easy! They initially claimed that the render even if defective was not responsible for water ingress all the way through to the inside of the dwelling! They made me prove that. I had two 2x1 sections of the outer leaf removed;
Gable Wall with outer leaf section removed.
It showed that bonded bead insulation had been used. I live in an area that the Agrement Certificate for bonded bead says is 'severely exposed' in terms of driving rain - and that under such circumstances, the product may be used IF the wall is rendered. The inference is that if the render is not watertight, the bead will conduct water as the bead itself is filling the cavity - and the whole point of the cavity is to prevent water ingress.
Secondly, a cable tie was exposed as part of that process - and found to have a complete mortar snot all along it from outer to inner leaf - acting as a cold bridge and definitely conducting water.
The bead itself was wet to the touch when we removed it.
My cause for concern right now is that I find it difficult to believe this is simply a rendering issue. Nobody - professional or otherwise - can explain to me how the wall could be rendered so badly as to result in uniform horizontal cracking like that (with the exception of that one instance of vertical cracking at the front of the house).
The only 'supposition' their engineer and my engineer could make was that the plasterers plastered the house in stages. This didn't sound plausible to me - and I asked a couple of plasterers if this was possible - they say it would never happen. I then managed to find someone who worked on the development as a labourer back then. He told me that they were plastered in one hit - as you would expect. It's important to note that these horizontal cracks are visible (to greater or lesser degrees) on ALL gable walls in this development of 30 houses. I asked him about the cracking and he believes its due to subsidence - as the complete site was filled and raised immediately before it was built on. He showed me the back of another house in the development - and pointed out an area where the ground has sloped away.
I have reason to believe that my own engineers views cant be trusted (due to professional links with the engineers the insurance company are using). Therefore, I'm trying to at least figure out as much as I can myself before engaging another professional.
Does anyone have any thoughts on specifically what type of damage this looks like? Does anyone have any ideas as to what steps I could take to investigate the actual cause at this point?
If it is subsidence, I have another difficulty in that the insurance policy includes this exclusion;
"Loss or damage caused by or consequent upon subsidence, heave or landslip unless such loss or damage is as a result of a defect in the design, workmanship, materials or components of the Structure of a Housing Unit."
The foundation is a raft foundation rather than strip foundation. Other than one small internal crack, there is no other evidence of cracking on any internal wall or floor surface.
If it is subsidence, the only way I can get this covered is to prove that the design of the raft (and my understanding is that a raft has to be engineered to suit the individual circumstances - and in this case, a site that was substantially backfilled) was inappropriate for site conditions.
Naturally, I will need professional help but before that, I need a better understanding of the scenario myself. I've already been led astray once already.
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