Is this passable. Rsj pillar

Joined
30 May 2016
Messages
51
Reaction score
3
Country
United Kingdom
Evening.

I have something on my mind regards to an rsj we have had installed. Its been in for a couple months while we waited to get a wall knocked through. This weekend we got round to knocking the wall through and we have since found the cavity wall to be at two different widths that is holding up a 4 meter rsj.

Its a bit hard to explain so i have attached a picture. The wall was also filled with mortar that i have had to drill out and clean the cavity.

So from what i can tell, the existing cavity gets wider from where they stepped the brick out, but should they not of just continued it up in a straight line, maybe even brick bonded it at the reveal to close and lock the two skins together?

Maybe i am being picky ad it looks untidy. The overhang is 35/40mm

It just doesnt look right.
20210124_151917_copy_877x1559.jpg
20210124_151853_copy_881x1566.jpg
20210124_151921_copy_877x1559.jpg
 
Last edited:
Sponsored Links
If someone just built that for you, you should get them back than shove their head into that cavity.

Thats exactly how i feel mate. We have really been s#it on with this. I thought we were over this untill we took this wall down. It was covered by a window reveal so we did not see it till we took it all down. With the amount of snots in there it was impossible to look down into the cavity. We witheld money from another issue they left us with so now we certinly wont be getting them back, i dont want them near our house!
 
Structurally, you can overhang by up to a third the thickness of a leaf, but that looks as though it might be a little more.
 
Sponsored Links
I guess so, but iv got to get this inspected and i dont want it falling down so maybe i just need to grin and bear the BCO's response. Im pretty sure i know what its going to be.
 
A building inspector might pull that but strictly speaking he'd be hard put to say why it wasn't satisfactory.

If it's 30mm at the base, that's less than 1/3rd the thickness of the skin and that - on its own - would not be enough to condemn it.
Much depends on the load from the beam, and how well the two skins are secured with ties.
 
Ok buddy. I will keep an open mind for now. I suppose all i can do is see whats said
 
i got the architect down to have a look and get some eyes on it before i get BC involved. looks like i got my work cutout for me this weekend.

he wasnt happy with it. he said in theory it should pass with the bearing, but said there's a serious lack of wall ties in the pillar and window/door reveals, he thinks that will sway
BC's mind to fail it. plus he said, as its your house you want to know it will last rather than just trying to get it through. his main concern is it buldging over time.

couple of options he's given me.. get the builder's back, that aint happening for their good, not mine. that will be dealt with later.

replace the section of bricks from where they start to overhang, remove the old wall ties and bang in some helicoil remedial wall ties every 3 courses. that will save me removing both skin's to get wall ties in because there's a wall
starter rack tieing the extension to the house.. he's also advised putting some in the window reveals and cutting down the padstone so it's bearing on the existing inner and outer skins of the house, not the extension.

i have looked back at the pictures from when the builders were doing the work, thankfully there's plenty of wall ties to be seen in the walls. it looks to be every square meter.

Can anyone actually reccomend these self tapping ties? there's a few brands to pick from. if there anything like self tapping concrete screw's, those are the nuts!
 
got a few plans together in my head. here's my proposed plan but open to suggestions or the fact its a crap idea ;)

first look at the picture's before you read this as i have crap ways of explaining!

i took a closer look at this today, got it propped up and ready. upon closer inspection, there's no starter kit in the upper part of where they have replaced, or rather filled in the brickwork. seem's they couldnt be bothered.
Also there's no vertical DPC cut. i didnt know this was a requirement but either way they have not done it, but the fact it needs one make this a little easier to do. i can make a stihl cut vertically from DPC, take out at least 215mm wide x height of wall, remove the odd bricks. this would allow me to build the corner back up using blocks toothed into the new extension.

The other side of the wall where the bricks overhang, i would probably still have to brick this up in old bricks due to toothing in to the internal boundry wall, the course heights are different.

the only other way to do it would be to do the above, but carry on the blockwork right over the cavity wall and tooth straight into that internal skin that i need to replace. this in theory would be stronger and close the cavity
reveal off but not sure how practical it is due to course heights of the party wall.
 

Attachments

  • proposed drawing.jpg
    proposed drawing.jpg
    127.8 KB · Views: 126
  • proposed.jpg
    proposed.jpg
    341.5 KB · Views: 206
here's two paint drawings i threw together, two ways of doing it. the second picture will require more work to tooth out the party wall to match blocks.
 

Attachments

  • proposed1.jpg
    proposed1.jpg
    94.9 KB · Views: 95
  • proposed2.jpg
    proposed2.jpg
    98.2 KB · Views: 90
You might get a cold bridge with those.

Have you considered an 'L' - shaped padstone which would only rest on the inner skin, and would help to bind the separate leaves together.
 
You might get a cold bridge with those.

Have you considered an 'L' - shaped padstone which would only rest on the inner skin, and would help to bind the separate leaves together.

Would that depend on the specced padstone?
 
Last edited:
Hi tony.

Are you saying that the 215mm (for arguments sake) brick that the padstone bears on is causing a cold bridge on what would of been the outside skin? What if i cut it and stuck one of those flexile dpc/foam strips in? Think they are about 20mm

L shaped padstone is a good idea. I can look into that.
 

DIYnot Local

Staff member

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.


Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top