Advice on this...Subsidence of my path, maybe more

[AliasOmega]

We live in a row of houses that are built on a hill. In between each house is 2 paths leading to the rear of the houses. The house next door is lower that yours, so therefore when it rains the water flows into next doors garden.

Over the years the front lawn has been washed away, and now you can notice in between the houses that the path will start to crack up in the future.

The path is okay at the moment, but what is the worst case, and how long can we expect it too last. Our house insurance has a £1000 excess on subsidence, but we have already claimed on this for out guttering and the damaged roof from the high winds.

Ive posted some pictures up. You can see that the whole thing needs replacing therefore running the costs up into the ££££'s.

Is there anything we can do at this moment to prevent it from worsening, or is it just sit and wait.?

You can see from the pics that the earth is being washed away from under the path. From the garden picture you can see where the soil level was, and how it is now. The path has begun to crack already..

Like my dodgy fence i make to keep the 2yr old in. Well its been there 2 yrs now, and stood the strong winds...(must be the flex in it )

This goes all the way down the garden, and under the shed..Could be about 12mtr in length, I though about a brick wall to keep the soil back between the houses..

 

[masona]

If it was me, I would remove all the fencing and renew with concrete post and 12" concrete gravel board acting as a wall then backfill with concrete to the gravel board.

 

[Thermo]

its not subsidence your insurance company would worry about. its localised to the path as there is no reention of the soil on the downhill sid. Either do as masona suggests or a simple wall on the downhill side of the path where the soil is exposed will work to retain the soil. I would suspect it will still last for many years as it is.

 

[AliasOmega]

Well we have a £50 excess for anything except for Subsidence,Heave or Landslip. The house is the gf's and she is a single parents family with 3 kids. She is inbetween jobs, and does not get any benefits so therefore just going out and getting this done is not a simple action.

Im not very good with DIY to do with fencing, concrete etc so therefore would need to employ someone, and it cost £748 to have the fence put up, the guttering re-done on the front inc new downpipe and to re-point the tiles on the roof. So i cant imagine what 12mtrs of concrete fencing would cost. The fence was done like that too keep the rabbits in, and to keep the 2yr old out the next doors garden as he was a little sod at that time.

I think the 12" board would be a waste as it would be lost under the path, but then we would have fencing panels up to waist height. I did consider the option to cut the path short on the edge, and brick wall it up and re-do the path up too it, but again funds are short.

The fall away is down to the shed, and that shed is full of toys...we did a car boot sale as the conservatory was full of toys too, so we shifted some old stock and moved the rest into the shed. We got a petrol motorbike in the conservatory as there is no room in the shed..think i need another car boot sale.

ill ring the insurance once the claim for the guttering has been completed as i dont want to scare them off yet, but we've been with the firm for yrs, even since when we bought the house. The front garden needs some edging putting up so it dont run off when it rains, im sure i can whip some mortar / concrete up to keep it in place and do that, i may even pick up a cheap grinder and get the gf to help me. I just need a place for more top soil, and some turf. I did consider a landscape gardener to come along and sort it...

Im in the raf, as she was on about renting her house out if she moves with me. But were in the process of getting things sorted. It needs gas heating putting in, as its solid fuel fire / heating. The electrics aint too good either, but she has put laminate floor everywhere so that dont help either....

What would i expect to pay from a builder then...to build me a little wall and put me fence back up on top.?

 

[breezer]

What would i expect to pay from a builder then...to build me a little wall and put me fence back up on top.?

Please see item 9

 

[AliasOmega]

I cant really see me with a cement mixer making concrete..

Next door cant help either, as they so poor they got no car...it broke..

 

[Thermo]

right if your after a cheap way of doing it, then get some old boarding from somewhere to make up formwork next to the steps. You can either mix up some concrete or you could at a push use postcrete, saves the effort, but more expensive and pour it between the formwork and the path edge. It wont look pretty but it will do the job.

 

[AliasOmega]

pour it between the formwork and the path edge

I know what you mean. I did think about that, and i could of wedged the wood against the fence posts, maybe some planks..then fill it up. I was wondering how i could replace the soil that had been washed away tho. But again i did think about cutting the path back, and filling it in then.

Would you mix the concrete with a mixer, or order it in.?


I could ask the builder who is here tomorrow to finish the roof off how much it would cost. Its only a cheap temp fix..

I would have a go myself as im very good with the thought of it, just the doing is a prob. Cant warrant buying a cement mixer tho..

 

[Thermo]

you wont need much, you dont really need to worry too much about what been washed away as the concrete you pour in will replace some of it and it isnt going to collapse! You can do it by hand, just do it a bit at a time.

 

[PowerTool]

In relation to concrete - you need to work out how much you need,and then decide whether to mix your own (hire a concrete mixer),get someone like Readymix,or see if you have a local Mix-a-mate type of service - they come round,mix it outside your house,and barrow it in for you.
I recently laid a concrete slab for a shed extension - local barrow boys came round,mixed and barrowed a cube of concrete in about 30 minutes.
Under £120,minimum order 0.6 cubic metre.
Obviously,you need the site to be prepared first,and shuttering/levels done before they arrive.

Good luck

 

[AliasOmega]

I remember seeing the ready mixed concrete in B&Q, but i think sand is £3 in wickes, Cement is £3 and just some stones would do.

I could do it coarse at the bottom, smooth on the top..

Its 3.25 - 1 for concrete.?

 

[AliasOmega]

If concrete came in ltrs, id prob only need 15 ltrs of it..

 

[kevplumb]

youve got a mixer mate just buy a shovel and sweat like the rest of us did when we where skint

 

[PowerTool]

Concrete varies slightly depending on use - generally 4:2:1 (aggregate:sharp sand:cement) or 6:1 if using ballast (aggregate and sand combined)
Buying it by the bag is ok for repair work,but soon becomes cheaper to buy the materials and mix it yourself - a bagful of ready mixed is only about the volume of a small paving slab.

 

[AliasOmega]

Ive got the shovels, im well up for mixing it by hand. Would need to know whats the best way to mix it.? What size board, what size stones.? what kind of sand.? Is it best to do 1mtr of the 12mtr at a time.? How long it take to dry, is it best to leave some at the top to smooth it off later.?

Id rope the gf into doing this too...as she loves DIY..

ive got a bag of dolmite in the back garden still from when they did the conservatory..