foundations problem / advice please

[nick60]

evenin, I'm building a porch about 2m x 2.1m and have dug the trenches for the foundations - we're at a depth of more than 2m as the BCO wanted us to go to same depth as the house foundations. Problem is we've uncovered a main foul water drain which has been encased in a large amount of concrete by the original builders. This would be OK if the drain was crossing through the middle of one the new porch walls, we'd just lintel over it somehow (I'm assuming we can't build directly off this concrete). Problem is the drain crosses the new porch precisely in one of its corners. The only way I can see of supporting the new porch at this corner is to dig away alot more ground and put in a diagonal lintel. If that's what the BCO wants then we'll have to do it, but I'm looking for a better/quicker/cheaper solution. Any ideas folks? TIA,
Nick

 

[Richard C]

Why is a Building Control involved with inspecting your porch? Some need Planning but even those are exempt from BR's if they comply with this;
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/public/buildingwork/projects/workcommonporch

 

[nick60]

well, planning because I live in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and you can barely lift a paint brush without planning around here, and building regs because I want the porch to be habitable space, so only an internal door separating it from the house etc etc. In any case the BCO is visiting on other projects we have on the go and so far his input has been very good - saved us a few quid in fact. He's visiting soon and I'm still looking for workarounds to avoid building on top of this drain - any thoughts?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Is the drain private or SWW? Does it run out from the house or along the front of the house if you get my drift? Can it be relocated?

 

[nick60]

private drain freddy - it starts at the front left corner of the house and comes out diagonally to an inspection chamber. The bit that intersects my porch is before the inspection chamber. It could be relocated I'm sure, but lots of digging and mess. I reckon we'll have to bridge over it somehow, but again more digging than I was hoping for

 

[^woody^]

2m depth for a porch is a joke. And if the BCO wanted two metre foundations, then presumably he will want the drains properly bridged or relocated

Why did you not just consider an external door instead of an internal one and save all the bother of building regs?

A raft foundation may be an option, otherwise withdraw the application and change the door - and change it back afterwards if you like

 

[nick60]

woody, yes it's a bit of a joke, but to be fair I did some of the digging and it was bad ground all the way to about 1.5m, full of all sorts of building junk, old drain pipes, rotten timber, electric cable and all sorts. We're just completing a project at the back of the house as well, similar situation with depth of footings. On that one we dug an old bicycle up. On the porch project the BCO basically said get to house footings level, or get me an engineer's report saying it's OK to do something different. We took the simple option and kept digging

 

[Richard C]

Why did you not just consider an external door instead of an internal one and save all the bother of building regs?
otherwise withdraw the application and change the door - and change it back afterwards if you like

I’d go with that, it’s by far the easiest solution. Why go through all the hassle of Building Regs compliance for the sake of an external grade door? I’ve a porch of similar size which houses a Monks Bench (for boots), some coat hooks & an umbrella standl I can’t imagine ever doing anything in there other than taking my boots on & off!