bodge wall subsiding!! garage collapse??

[jrooney1991]

Hi all,

We bought a house with a garage that includes an archway wall. The wall is REALLY BADLY subsiding if you can see in the pictures... The archways have not been correctly pinned... Is this fixable or does this wall need to be pulled down or is there any way of saving it??

 

[Himaginn]

My guess is that the sidewards pressure of the arch, which is just out of the picture, is forcing the wall out.
I would guess that the design is wrong there. Either it should have been lintels, not arches, or there should be some lateral restraint at the top of the wall, in the roof to stop the wall being pressured outwards.
I would guess that the roof timbers run parallel to that wall where you've dug out a little. So the roof timbers may be providing some restraint to the wall that is just out of shot. Although if the design is wrong, I doubt if what restraint is there is sufficient.

But I'm no pro.

More pics might help, and a diagram of which wall is affected in relation to, and how roof is constructed.
Also pics of the crack, showing the whole length might help, and any restraint at roof level, if there is any.
You might have to expose a section of the foundations for more pics.

Forgot to mention, I doubt if the wall can be saved. And a different design may be required.

 

[JohnD]

The brickwork looks pretty neat, it's a pity the person designing it didn't know that arches push sideways.

I reckon you will have to demolish it at least to the level of the crack. The rest of the pillar may also have been pushed over. When you demolish the end one, the adjacent arch will become the end, and will also collapse.

Possibly it could be rebuilt with a heavy buttress or return at the end of the wall, but I don't know how to design an arcade, either.

 

[^woody^]

Looks like shallow foundations to me. Nothing to do with the arch.

 

[stuart45]

Looking at the cutting in over the arch in the last photo, the brickwork doesn't look too neat to me.
The abutments should be bigger at the ends, but the brickwork is falling away in the opposite direction so the footings could be the problem as it does look a bit wet down below.

 

[jrooney1991]

So! As an update, had a brickie come round today and have a look. He says that the foundations are most likely to blame (what foundations?!) The soil is waterlogged due to all the rain we have had recently, but isn't to blame for the subsidance. I'll keep you all in the loop once the next general builder comes round!