The reason for contacting Pole
A residential tenant had expressed concerns with regard to various cracks occurring, as well as sticking doors, and there were serious concerns about the safety of the property.
Pole Structural Engineers Reports were contacted by the landlord who was seeking a reputable, independent, and highly experienced structural engineering firm practising in the Weybridge/Surrey area.
Pole service offer
In response to the client’s requirements our qualified Chartered Structural Engineer recommended a Specific Structural Inspection Report.
There are two distinct types of structural engineers reports:
1) A localised, very specific and limited Structural Engineers Specific Defect Report or Specific Structural Inspection (SSI).
2) A broader Structural Engineers General Movement Report, or General Structural Inspection Report (GSI), which focuses on matters of cracking and movement only.
Our report
The property was a substantial Victorian double-fronted house rented out over many years and was extremely tired both inside and out.
The local geology of this area is generally sands and gravels, not clay, so this was not an obvious area for significant subsidence risks.
Findings
We found relatively few cracks to the rear of the property and these were above large window openings where a brick arch had been replaced by a modern concrete beam lintel.
The rear door was found to stick, but the floor appeared to have lifted so there was clearly a non-structural issue at play here.
Conclusions
We determined that the cracking was very historic and non-progressive. The pattern of cracking suggested that these cracks occurred when the modern concrete beam lintel was installed by a builder, when the original brick arch was replaced. It is very common for some cracking to occur during the installation of such beams.
Internally we found various plaster cracks in the corner between the rear wall and abutting internal walls and ceilings.
We were able to reassure both the landlord and the tenant and advise that the cracks could be routinely repaired during the next planned maintenance at a cost of a few thousands of pounds,and we provided the names of two specialist repair contractors who would be able to carry out the work.
The landlord was hugely relieved as they feared that the house may have required underpinning which would have incurred huge costs in the region of tens of thousands of pounds. The landlord wished they had contacted us sooner as they had been worrying about the cracks for many years but had not done anything about them.
