Is this reasonable damage?

[enugent]

Hi, we have had 3 steel beams put in downstairs (garage conversion) which has caused cracks to appear upstairs. The cracks are 15mm at the widest point, there is a draught coming through the external wall and the internal doors now do not open and close properly due to the frame being made crooked by the movement of the walls.
The builder says these issues can be solved with some foam filler and sanding down the doors so they open and close but it seems like a lot of damage and we are worried there may be further damage we cant see. We would like them to bring in a surveyor to check the overall impact to the house - is this a reasonable request or are we being pedantic?
Photos attached.
Thanks!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

You need a surveyor.

 

[Andy165]

Did you check your builder has got public liability insurance before he started the work ? Also inserting new steel supports requires council Building Control inspection. Have you had the work inspected? If not call them pronto. They will tell you if it been done properly and will give you certification. Ask the builder tomorrow where is the cert./ has it been inspected by Building Control. It is usually required for this type of work. If builder is evasive, don't bother with confrontation, ring the council yourself. Usually about £300 for inspection and cert. Well worth it, especially looking at those pictures.

 

[foxhole]

Has BC checked the work?

 

[Notch7]

We would like them to bring in a surveyor to check the overall impact to the house - is this a reasonable request or are we being pedantic

the cracks indicate a serious amount of movement.

Either

A) builder did not support structure sufficiently

B) build did not pack beams correctly

C) structural beams / pad stones / columns / foundation is wrong

If it was me I would get a structural engineer to visit before anymore work is done

by the way, the builder is bullsh1tting, a bit of foam is not the answer

 

[johnny2007]

Fill the cracks and sell the house.

 

[enugent]

Thanks everyone, really helpful to get your insight.

We've got BC reviewing the stages of the build and I've now reached out to them with these images to ask their opinion. I don't believe anything was mentioned to them before this and they were not aware of these cracks.

Builder is being very evasive about fixing the problem but good to know we are not being dramatic about this damage.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

The odd hairline crack in plaster above an inserted beam wouldn't be unusual. A 15mm gap and doorframes distorted is not acceptable. If the steels were RSJs (rather than preformed lintels), Building Control tend to require drawings and specifications from a structural engineer- if your builder hasn't bothered you'd best hope he has some insurance.

 

[Odds]

Buy a large garden gnome then pay him a visit...

 

[Notch7]

We've got BC reviewing the stages of the build and I've now reached out to them with these images to ask their opinion

given the garage conversion had 3 steel beams, it was likely it was designed by a structural engineer -which was submitted for approval by building control

the first question to find out is if the builder has done the structural work to the structural engineers spec

a building control inspector will tell you if its compliant or not, but you wont really get much advice, its not what they are there for, you need the structural engineer really.

 

[enugent]

given the garage conversion had 3 steel beams, it was likely it was designed by a structural engineer -which was submitted for approval by building control

the first question to find out is if the builder has done the structural work to the structural engineers spec

a building control inspector will tell you if its compliant or not, but you wont really get much advice, its not what they are there for, you need the structural engineer really.

Thanks!
I've spoken to BC now and sent them images and they advised it is something they see often with the size of walls that have been taken out. They've already reviewed the work and the cert is ready to issue.
They said if the cracks haven't become any bigger since the initial appearance then it should all be fine. It would just be initial movement and shouldn't be structural.
What do you think?

 

[Mottie]

I recall something similar happening in our house about 25 years ago when a builder mate took out a ground floor wall in our house. I had similar horrendous looking cracks in our bathroom wall directly above the wall that was removed. This was while accrows and scaffold boards held up the ceilings on both sides of the wall. My mate told me to stop flapping. When he put the RSJ in and jacked that up, the crack disappeared. When he filled the gaps between the RSJ and the supporting walls and removed the accrows a few days later, it was all fine. Is there any way your RSJ's can be jacked up and packed a little to close the gaps?

 

[Notch7]

Thanks!
I've spoken to BC now and sent them images and they advised it is something they see often with the size of walls that have been taken out. They've already reviewed the work and the cert is ready to issue.
They said if the cracks haven't become any bigger since the initial appearance then it should all be fine. It would just be initial movement and shouldn't be structural.
What do you think?

So it sounds like the structural work has been correctly to the drawings.

it’s possible the movement cracks are a result of poor support during the works….sometimes builders use insufficient acrows or position them wrongly

the problem with modern construction with cement based mortars and blocks is that they are very unforgiving of movement and crack easily.

 

[cdbe]

This is mine, 4.5m span, apparently a fairly hefty load according to my SE (about 5 tonnes in English).

Another beam carries a much smaller load and there's just a faint hairline crack in that one.

I took a lot of care; with the propping, the padstones and the dry packing to minimise cracking - it's virtually inevitable as steel beams are allowed a certain amount of deflection (bending). It's quite interesting; mine didn't initially crack - the wall above most have floated for about 24 hours before the crack appeared - hairline at first presumably when the beam was initially loaded and then a bit wider as the beam itself deflected! I will need to plane a few mm off the top of that adjacent door!

While it's technically not structural, it's messy and your builders have done crap work - they really should be exposing that brickwork and doing some comprehensive raking out and repointing to make it all good.

 

[mrrusty]

Get a surveyor and get it written up. It'll be worth it for peace of mind. Depending on what they say will determine what you need to do.