I think Woody sums it up with one word "Nowerdays" . I am of the old school when wall starters had never been heard of, the only sealer we had was Secomastic. All extensions were toothed in and I do not recall any problem, but then the foundations were also linked. Nowerdays the industry be in is Silicon manufacture, it seems to be the universal problem solver for bad workmanship.
A gaps has developed where our extension meets the house?
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I think its wonderful how you are all having a great chat, BUT I am genuinely worried about this, literally my wife is loosing sleep and I said I'd ask about online for some opinions.
We can't contact the bricky as he's away.
We can't contact the bricky as he's away.
Nothing to worry about. It's quite commonplace for a crack to develop at the junction between new and old. As said before, if wider at the top it would be an issue but yours is of uniform width the full height.
You could fill internally, and try using a scrim tape over the crack prior to filling to help prevent the crack reappearing.
Maybe get the bricky to rake out externally and fill with mastic at the joint.
But stop worrying, your house is not about to collapse!
Things do change
In "the old days", tradespeople were most likely to be tradespeople and not someone who has done a 3 month building course or migrated from god knows where.
Then there are know issues discovered over time. The vogue for 1000mm foundations came about from a single very hot dry summer and the movement damage and insurance claims that came of it.
Lightweight, highly insulated extension behave differently to the old heavy house they are attached to. So things will move differently
There are ways to bond the wall in without it cracking, but is the customer going to pay for it, and can the builder do it?
But generally any additional brickwork which is not a 100% identical brick and mix colour, will not look any better if it is tied in than if not
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Further to my original question some render and bricks have cracked elsewhere and we are just getting increasingly worried.
Please see the images attached, is this normal movement or something more sinister?
//www.diynot.com/network/acknowledged74/albums/18172
Please see the images attached, is this normal movement or something more sinister?
//www.diynot.com/network/acknowledged74/albums/18172
The recent photos aren't normal. The original one could be put down to thermal movement but the diagonal and stepped cracking indicate a foundation problem.
You need to investigate properly. You should inform the builders you have a problem and give them the opportunity to take a look. Do that in writing. Then get an independent chartered building surveyor to inspect. That will involve digging around the foundation in one or two places to check the depth and condition of the concrete.
You need to investigate properly. You should inform the builders you have a problem and give them the opportunity to take a look. Do that in writing. Then get an independent chartered building surveyor to inspect. That will involve digging around the foundation in one or two places to check the depth and condition of the concrete.
And now we have £100M's of claims pa for damage arising from differential movement when old & new are on different foundations.
I doubt you'd be allowed to construct an entirely new building with foundations deliberately designed to create differential movement - it's always seemed utter madness to me to force people to do just that when they have extensions done.
Ban-all-sheds
The foundations ranged from 2.5m to 1.5m at the furthest point away from the trees, which is where the pictures are of.
The foundations ranged from 2.5m to 1.5m at the furthest point away from the trees, which is where the pictures are of.
The local council planning / surveying department people, we paid them to ok each part of the build. I thought I'd mentioned the trees in the first but looking back I hadn't.
At the back of house where it around 10 meters from the tree the foundations are 2.5m deep, when you reach near the front of the house the foundations where being staggered to 1.5m deep, at around 16 meters from the trees.
I did check these depth myself through the general national guidelines and they seemed in line with that.
At the back of house where it around 10 meters from the tree the foundations are 2.5m deep, when you reach near the front of the house the foundations where being staggered to 1.5m deep, at around 16 meters from the trees.
I did check these depth myself through the general national guidelines and they seemed in line with that.
The council building control people set the depth and instructed the builder of this then visited on the morning that the concrete was pored to check the depth before this happened, and that the Claymaster was in place, which they did. There were arguments about all this at the time but the council people insisted on how it was to be done.
This meant we paid a fair bit more than expected to the builder for the foundations, but thems the rules.
This meant we paid a fair bit more than expected to the builder for the foundations, but thems the rules.
No point contacting the builder then. Ideally you would excavate the foundation to see what's gone wrong but at 2.5m deep that's not going to be easy. And even if you did manage it, and find it needs underpinning, with nobody to claim against the cost is probably going to be prohibitive. So I think your only option really is to leave it and hope it settles down.
In case you're thinking of a claim against building control, thousands have tried over the years but none successful that I know of. It might be worth writing anyway to tell them the foundation they designed has failed and you need the details of their insurers. Just to put the ****s up them if nothing else. At least it will remind them that they are building control administrators and not structural engineers.
In case you're thinking of a claim against building control, thousands have tried over the years but none successful that I know of. It might be worth writing anyway to tell them the foundation they designed has failed and you need the details of their insurers. Just to put the ****s up them if nothing else. At least it will remind them that they are building control administrators and not structural engineers.
Well either the depth is incorrect and its down to the council or the there is a problem with the concrete or brickwork so its down to the builder, I'm certainly not paying for it I can asure you of that.
I paid the council £650 to make sure the build was done correctly, and if they have got is wrong, then they will pay for it to be sorted out.
I paid the council £650 to make sure the build was done correctly, and if they have got is wrong, then they will pay for it to be sorted out.
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