Hi,
I am buying a late Victorian house in Essex. It has a large garage and workshop, which are two old chicken houses which have been pushed together and joined. The garage is OK'ish and the owner told me that it was built on footings. But the workshop was just built on top of a concrete slab. Over the years the slab has sunk/slipped in the far left hand side rear corner (i.e. the one corner you can't see in the photo I added! Sorry it's the only photo I have at the moment). As a result the doors and walls are out of square and it looks poor (doors broken - doesn't open etc). The soil is clay based and also close to a village pond and has a ditch running down the side... and an old well pump close by... No wonder the concrete slab sunk! So I am planning my assault on the property and thinking about what to do for the workshop. I could do with some ideas and advice... budget is tight. So the challenge is to do this on a shoestring. It's also in a conservation area so minimum (discrete) work preferred rather than seeking permission to demolish an old building and install a new one.
Option 1: Rip the whole lot down and dig up the concrete base and start again... with proper footings!
Option 2: Could I take down the wooden structure, then underpin the rear and side section of the concrete base and then level out the dipped corner by laying a new leveling layer of cement (it would be 6 or so inches thick at it's deepest) then re-build the wooden structure.
Option 3: Could it have stopped sinking and I just lay a leveling layer on top? and then re-build as above.
Option 4: Could I drill through the concrete slab and install some kind of pilings.
Option 5+: Any other bright ideas?
P.S. I have zero building experience other than I can plaster and I once built a wooden shed but after this experience I expect to know much much more. )
I am buying a late Victorian house in Essex. It has a large garage and workshop, which are two old chicken houses which have been pushed together and joined. The garage is OK'ish and the owner told me that it was built on footings. But the workshop was just built on top of a concrete slab. Over the years the slab has sunk/slipped in the far left hand side rear corner (i.e. the one corner you can't see in the photo I added! Sorry it's the only photo I have at the moment). As a result the doors and walls are out of square and it looks poor (doors broken - doesn't open etc). The soil is clay based and also close to a village pond and has a ditch running down the side... and an old well pump close by... No wonder the concrete slab sunk! So I am planning my assault on the property and thinking about what to do for the workshop. I could do with some ideas and advice... budget is tight. So the challenge is to do this on a shoestring. It's also in a conservation area so minimum (discrete) work preferred rather than seeking permission to demolish an old building and install a new one.
Option 1: Rip the whole lot down and dig up the concrete base and start again... with proper footings!
Option 2: Could I take down the wooden structure, then underpin the rear and side section of the concrete base and then level out the dipped corner by laying a new leveling layer of cement (it would be 6 or so inches thick at it's deepest) then re-build the wooden structure.
Option 3: Could it have stopped sinking and I just lay a leveling layer on top? and then re-build as above.
Option 4: Could I drill through the concrete slab and install some kind of pilings.
Option 5+: Any other bright ideas?
P.S. I have zero building experience other than I can plaster and I once built a wooden shed but after this experience I expect to know much much more. )
Garage and workshop
- DB1
- 1
These old hen houses have been converted to a garage and workshop. The workshop (rear of...