Search results

Doesn't look like it's leaning by 1/3 of the thickness of the chimney so not really anything worth worrying about. Once the lean is greater than 1/3 of the thickness then there can be stability issues. Might be worth getting it checked out to see if it needs repointing or rebuilt if the...

It’s a type of cypress and grows to a similar height if left so will likely have the same effect on the soil. If high volume change clay and you choose to keep the trees you will be spending a small fortune on a piled foundation. You need to get the soils tested, perhaps a sample from 1.5...

You need to know what the soil type is. If it's non-shrinkable (no clay content) then the trees are not an issue. If it is clay, 2.5m won't necessarily be deep enough if the soil is high or medium volume change. If this is the case you will need to remove more of the trees as you might then be...

It's very unusual to use blocks with a compressive strength greater than 10.4N/mm2 (except as padstones). If they are required it's more cost effective to thicken the walls or build panels in engineering brick and stronger mortar. If that's still not satisfactory, it's usual to install a steel...

Severn Trent won't allow you to have an internal inspection chamber on a public sewer. Any part of the property that has been built to building regulations (or would typically be inaccessible by the water company) would require a build over agreement, regardless of what the room is being used...

Class B engineering bricks in 1:3 mortar 665long by 300mm deep to form an engineering brick pad stone. This is a very standard type of pad stone and you SE should approve it with no questions

I didn't. It was passed by BC in the full plans application. Although, admittedly, the same thought crossed my mind as I was typing the reply...not before though :unsure:

OK as long as the timber frame has a cladding that is rated for 30 mins fire protection. I did this with my own timber frame extension and used renderboard and thin coat render on it. DPC on top of wall at FFL. Lap DPM in. No Usually: Plasterboard Vapour barrier Insulated timber frame Ply or...

I’d remove the chimney In its entirety and replace with a GRP one with brick slips or similar

No, the reason was that the trenches were unstable and the high water table and fast inflow meant it was very difficult to do traditional trench fill. Another option is PCC rings filled with concrete as pads with beams in between. Much easier to dewater the rings and they also provide the formwork.

300mm from the end it’ll be fine. Close to the middle it might be a problem.

BC come to us with all sorts of questions these days…

They might ask for justification from a structural engineer…

NHBC tables only apply to cohesive soils with shrink / swell potential. That's not an issue for sand and gravel (although if there is any cohesive content you should still get Atterberg tests done, as you might need to allow for some volume change). If it's a true non-cohesive soil you just...

Agree with Tony and your builder. The bearing plate replaces the pad stone. The pad stone obviously isn't welded to the beam so why would the bearing plate need to be? I had a similar situation a while ago where I had a beam bearing directly onto a hollow section lintel over an opening. I...

Thermalite have scratch marks and Celcon have a coloured band on the ends. There are others too such as Durox and Y-tong.

See Woody's post above - there is more risk of cracking due to the thermal effects. However, it's a cosmetic issue, not a structural one - all of the load is taken by the inner leaf. The inclusion of EML and/or other fabric mesh will help to prevent cracking showing through into the render even...

I don't live at the same property any more, but when I left in 2016 it was still fine. In the end I also used EML fixed to the blocks to help with the bonding. It's not common to use aircrete for external walls - there might be other methods of rendering onto them with alternatives to sand and...

Yes, but that assumes joists built in and from both sides of the beam. In this case the joists are only from one side and likely to be above the beam, not at the same level as it. The same paper says that reliance on friction isn't recommended, so it would be imperative to provide sufficient...

As I suspected... He's taken full lateral restraint and taken live load deflection only Put him back on photocopying duties until he learns what he's doing :LOL: