shale test

[beatts]

I have just bought a house and it is 25 yrs old, The survey stated that a shale test was recommended because houses of this age and in the same area have suffered from contaminated concrete infills below the ground floor concrete. Apparently the first floor door frames are out of square.

can anybody tell me the implications of a problem such as this and what can be done to rectify it?

 

[ryetee]

dont quote me on this but as i understand it shale was used instead of hardcore (is this predominantly in mining areas?). i think shale absorbs water and may expand and contract possibly causing movement in the house itself. i had something like this on my survey but took the view if the house and all around have been standing since the 70's then it aint going to be a problem. the survey suggested getting it looked at which would have meant somone drilling a deep hole and then making a call on whether it had settled or could move. if the investigation proved that something needed doing it would have been expensive.
I guess you need to know how long the frames have been out of square - if it's recent you may have a problem. if they've always been like that then maybe you haven't.
this is solely my opinion - i'm not a professional and accept no responsibility for the above.

 

[ryetee]

dont quote me on this but as i understand it shale was used instead of hardcore (is this predominantly in mining areas?). i think shale absorbs water and may expand and contract possibly causing movement in the house itself. i had something like this on my survey but took the view if the house and all around have been standing since the 70's then it aint going to be a problem. the survey suggested getting it looked at which would have meant somone drilling a deep hole and then making a call on whether it had settled or could move. if the investigation proved that something needed doing it would have been expensive.
I guess you need to know how long the frames have been out of square - if it's recent you may have a problem. if they've always been like that then maybe you haven't.
this is solely my opinion - i'm not a professional and accept no responsibility for the above.

 

[pwhalley]

I had a similar issue when I purchased my house. In this instance it was Red Ash rather than shale. I had a surveyor do a test, which basically involves taking a sample from under the floor and testing it. happily I didn't have the red Ash, but the survey cost £150 in 1996. The surveyor said at the time that if Red ash were there then further tests would be required to see if it would affect the building. The only real issue would have been with the building society mortgage (as they don't want the house falling down). I don't know what the solution would be, other than digging up the floors and replacing the hard core beneath. Sounds dirty and expensive. This may not be the course of the door frame problem however, as of the property was moving I would expect to see cracks. Hope that helps but I'm no expert so this is not professional advice.

 

[theshaleman]

There is still an awful lot os confusion regarding shale testing. Even the name "shale test" causes confusion because people think that the test is only to find whether shale is present. There are many other materials that have been used besides shale, and many of them can be just as harmful as expansive shale.

For advice on shale tests go to

http://www.shale-tests.co.uk