SilverShadow

Hi again, folks Firstly, apologies if this is already well trodden paths. I'm sure something as generic as this probably gets resurrected more times than a boybands career! 😁 However, if not then please read on... We'd be looking to have our home's cavity walls insulated, and after your guys high level advice/experiences. I have some basic questions, but please feel free to add anything you feel of value 👍 The house walls are outer brick/inner block. I'm not sure of the cavity gap/condition, but for the purposes of this convo: lets assume it's suitable for any approach.... My questions are: What is your preferred insulation material(s)? - i've heard good things about EPS and foam (tho both have pros and cons). I'm leaning towards EPS (due to cost), but happy to find out more What to look for with companies providing the service - plenty have reasonable reviews on Checkatrade/etc, but some are likely better than others. So are there any accreditations/memberships to really look out for? Quoting for cost - dumb question (my specialty 🤪), but costs i've read online are by m2. I assume the reputable companies factor in window/doors into their quote, and don't just crudely estimate based on rough wall dimension? (i'm not sure if this is a good yardstick to measure if estimates are realistic tho? 🤔) Guarantees - am i right in thinking all work guarantees (some i've seen are 25 yrs) should be insurance backed? GBIS - does anyone know if GBIS companies are any better/worse than anyone else? I've occasionally seen online non-funded jobs (eg: private) are sometimes completed badly Anything else - eg: building regs signoff, that may be required? Many thanks as always for your sage suggestions Shadow

Hey guys Firstly, apologies, as this is duplicating a thread I posted earlier. But i've also posted in here, as it's brickwork related We've recently had a lintel installed above a window & I'm a bit underwhelmed by the workmanship, tbh Taking other aspects aside, would you expect the replaced bricks to be fairly flush (steel L lintel installed into a cavity wall)? It seems quite uneven imo (replaced bricks protruding out as a bulge by up to 6 or 7mm in places, as shown by the mortar in pic 2). I suspect the builder rushed and didn't take time to align anything. But likewise dunno if this can be typical when fitting lintels... Would you guys expect the finish to be more flush & even? Apologies again - I've posted as I'm in a quandary about calling the builder back before paying Many thanks for your time as always Shadow

Thanks Russell - as regards the 1st points I'm not sure. All I know is it looked like a steel L lintel, which had a black protective paint layer to it I'm also thinking the lintel wasn't a perfect fit, possibly due to the steelwork protruding from the inner concrete block 🤔 Bricks are slightly bigger 73mm ones, but that shouldn't matter, tbh. I'm not sure how far back the lintel should be set. But it seems to be around 15mm back from the face (see pic) I'd have thought this would be enough depth recess to reset the bricks in line with the existing wall? 🤷‍♂️

Hey guys, Sounds like a bit of a daft question, but is it fairly common to have slight brick face protrusion after relaying brickwork to fit in an L shaped steel lintel? I've enclosed some pics, which don't really do it justice. It's something we can live with, but the perfectionist makes me think the lintel wasn't set deep enough?? 🤔 If it helps, the wall is cavity - outer Brickwork, inner concrete block. I did notice what looked like steel ties/anchors protruding from the inner block into the cavity, so I guess these may have limited how far back they could recess the lintel Thought I'd mention while the work is still in progress, in case it's something we should ask to be remedied Many thanks as always Mark

Hey all, Been a few weeks since i last posted, so thought it was about time I recently noticed a few cracks in one of the concrete beams below our rear garden pathway. Tbh, it's probably been there for quite a while - but once seen it's one of those things you can't un-see. It's something i plan to monitor over time.... However, if the need arises to fix this, then i'd really appreciate your advice on this, please. A little bit of info which might be useful to you guys: the cracks are part of a load bearing concrete beam, which certainly seems in general good repair. It's exposed to the elements, so any repairs would need to stand up to rain, frost and shine Questions: What would you recommend to use please? (assuming you guys probably recommend some sort of filler, of course!) - feel free to list any products you've used Would you angle-grind a shallow trench in the concrete to improve application of any filler? Am i right in thinking there are some fillers that also offer some level of structural benefit? Many thanks for your time as always Shadow

Hey Dave - it was probably me 😅👍 I'd posted about it a while back, but it was probably a bit too badly worded. Thankfully, i've got some fantastic advice on here now though 👍

Great response again, mate! Yeah, i think gravel in the backfill is what he suggested. I'm not sure, but i don't think the guy can get a mini-digger down there - the neighbours side is down some steps and no more than 1m wide. So if anything he'd probably use one our side for the top section, and then hand-dig the rest out Looking at a few websites - it reckons up to £300/m2 for this type of wall. So it's likely it'll be circa £4k or more for a 10m * 1.3m high - in which case it can definitely wait!

Thanks J90 - if anything, we thought leaving the cracks there might be slightly useful, as make-do drainage outlets. I guess as we've recently moved in & just seen these whacking-great crack/the amount of soil being propped up, then we panicked a bit. The neighbour said these cracks have been slowly growing the past 20 years (tho accelerated slightly the past few years) It may be something we put off for now. But likewise great to get this feedback & determine the risk/urgency a little better

Ps guys - we had a builder around the other day (just for advice, for now) His thoughts were: This wall was doomed to fail, due to: No drainage in the brickwork to allow water to escape The hollow block (he thinks) probably doesn't have adequate concrete/reinforcement His suggestion would be: Rebuild a similar replacement wall (hollow block), from foundations upwards Ensure that all hollow blocks are filled with concrete Plenty of drainage holes at regular intervals (the water would just drain out onto neightbours pathway - would this have any legal/building regs ramifications?) Adequate gravel in backfill, to allow proper drainage (i guess this would probably mitigate much of the above bullet point concerns) He mentioned something about Rebar - which i assume is the steel reinforcement our side? He also said the concrete & steel our side would be fine, as the weight of the soil above would help anchor everything down & keep it all rigid He didn't think the work was big/complex enough to warrant a structural engineers assessment Apologies if some of this is a bit vague - it's not my forte, so something i could only take mental note of at the time Cheers Shadow

Hey John - good questions I believe it's (most likely) our wall, as we're on the higher side & so it's retaining our land from encroaching on theirs. Looking at the title plan, it seems to be the boundary wall, and photo above would confirm this i'd imagine. Our land plot does seem to imply the ground was raised to make a level surface, which again suggests it'll be our duty to maintain. Ours is the newer house too (can't be sure, but it seems like it was rebuilt over an old house foundation)

Hey J90 - at the moment it's only leaning by about 5-10mm max, at the top. Tbh, it may be something we keep an eye on and potentially do later. But it's still good to get advice and impressions from the off There's no expansion joints i can see, or draining holes either. So it would make sense that years of excess water/frosts have eventually taken their toll on it. We'll need to add some sort of drainage on whatever solution we end up with, to ensure no further issues like this. However, the water will drain directly onto the neighbours pathway (unless we add some sort of 'guttering' or drainage on our side of the wall foundations?) I've enclosed pics of the wall in it's current state Wall 1 & 2 pics - cracks up to 1.4m high wall3 pic - view from our side down, showing retaining boundary wall & neighbours pathway

In response to Gus's comments earlier: a double check of the plans/register confirm there is no mention of ownership of the retaining boundary wall. Looking on various legal sites, it seems as though the responsibility lies with the owner who's land it being retained in place. Given that, then i think the onus is on us to maintain this

Many thanks, Gus. That was a very excellent & detailed response, which explains the soil mechanics aspect brilliantly 😁 I will have another scan of the deeds, in case it's something I've missed. Looking at the house from the street, the retaining wall is on the right hand side of the property. I'm not sure, but think there's some unspoken rule that left-side boundaries would usually be our responsibility? I could always ask our conveyancer- hopefully they could clarify without it costing much 🤞 The wall itself is fairly sturdy, but I noticed it has no drainage outlets, so I imagine the trapped water from excess rain & frosts have caused the swell over time, as you mentioned As a side note, does anyone recommend a type of wall construction (materials & design)? Additionally, is this something we should ask a structural engineer's advice on, or just trust a builder with retaining wall experience? Many thanks again Shadow

Hey all - another day, another quandary that I'd appreciate your guys awesome advice on please 😁 We recently moved into a house on a hill, and the boundary wall adjacent to the neighbouring property is also a retaining wall (approx 10m long and up to 1.5m high). Our property is the higher of the 2, so essentially the retaining wall keeps our land from spilling into theirs We introduced ourselves to the neighbours of this boundary (who seem a decent bunch) & they mentioned the wall has 2 big cracks in it. We'd like to ensure this is fixed, but realise it'll be costly (maybe £3k, maybe more???). Fixing it ensures no land slippage our side & keeps them from worrying The neighbours said our old owners built the wall, which suggests it's our responsibility. However, I've checked our deeds & there's no indication its our responsibility to maintain In some ways were happy to pay for fixing it ourselves. But likewise, this might then imply its our responsibility, when it may be shared. Especially when maintaining it in the future We'd ideally like to share the responsibility/cost with the neighbour, but don't want to suggest it if we're likely liable for it Does anyone have advice on what we could check & go from here please? Many thanks for your time as always 😁 Shadow

Great advice too - thanks Alan 😁 I was considering surface mount cables, but would prefer the neater look of them tucked away in the void. However, it'll really come down to how fiddly that is, so it's definitely one to consider when i get into it. I'll take a look at the Philips square LED lights for the ceiling - definitely worth a shout (the existing ones in there currently work for now) Thankfully the door/windows are already double glazed (upvc i'm fairly sure), which for sure could probably do with updating. However, money is fairly tight with just moving in to our house, so i don't think £2k or more on those would meet my budgetary remit (i could always do them later i guess) I'd love to keep the log burner, but i agree it'll be a lot of hassle to make it compliant - so likely it'll have to go. Thanks for the tip about the J Harris spready - this is definitely getting into the advanced side of things (which i may need). But it seems to be aimed more at satisfying building regs, rather than just a bog standard conversion, would you say? 🤔