Chasing pipes into the wall and structural integrity

[Water]

Hi all,

 

Came back to the house today to see the builders had chased some of the pipework into the wall. I'm a bit concerned affect this has on the structural integrity of the wall.  Am I being too cautious?

[Sjk]

[Water]

Thanks!

[nod]

2 hours ago, Water said:

Hi all,

 

Came back to the house today to see the builders had chased some of the pipework into the wall. I'm a bit concerned affect this has on the structural integrity of the wall.  Am I being too cautious?

It was quite common once over

Not now Even the gas pipes are left on the surface and enclosed with drywall adhesive 

[Vijay]

pic no longer working?

[Nickfromwales]

We retrospectively cut doorways into load besting walls, so a bit of chasing will be of zero detriment. Electricians will do that 4 times or more in the same wall before breakfast.
Zero BCO or structural issues / concerns have ever been raised in the last 25+ years of doing this exact work.

Time to put more tonic in with the gin   

[Water]

try again

[TonyT]

Don’t you denso or tape the pipe to stop any cracking/ adverse reaction to render/plaster?

[MattSu]

48 minutes ago, Water said:

try again

I personally wouldn't have gone that route, I would have just surface mounted the pipes and boxed them in. Vertical chases are one thing, I wouldn't be too happy about a horizontal chase like that. How deep is it? Looks like a 32mm pipe can easily fit in it? I wonder how much brick is left!

[Water]

Yeah that was my concern, they blocks are 100 thick but I'll have to get back down there and measure the depth.

[Water]

Well I guess the block work will have to be replaced. ffs.   Unless I have misunderstood the building regulations.

Edited June 3, 2021 by Water

[Vijay]

are they planning to fill in the hole around the pipes?

[Water]

Yeah they are planning to fill

[Nickfromwales]

Yatzee!

I automatically assumed vertical chases. That's a chunk missing from that wall.  Sorry, I now agree with your concerns.

4 hours ago, MattSu said:

I would have just surface mounted the pipes and boxed them in

Yup. 100% or popped the floors up. At the very most I would have removed just the render and set the waste pipe as far back as possible to reduce the footprint of the boxing in.

Not even sure if backfilling with a stiff cement compo would satisfy here.

Edited June 3, 2021 by Nickfromwales

[DragsterDriver]

I’m not keen on that, or burying the push fittings in plaster. 

[markc]

Holy Crap! Ive seen some deep horizontal chases pass BCO but never at the bottom and only being short run. that needs sorting 

[Big Jimbo]

IMO you are right to be concerned. What was the "Builder" thinking.

[Vijay]

Is it a 4" wall or 9" party wall? (if that would make any difference to what can be chased out) I just can't imagine a builder would do that to a 4" wall and be ok with it

[Water]

59 minutes ago, Vijay said:

Is it a 4" wall or 9" party wall? (if that would make any difference to what can be chased out) I just can't imagine a builder would do that to a 4" wall and be ok with it

 

It's a standard cavity wall.

[Water]

I'm not a structural engineer but if there was only a small piece of the wall removed I wouldn't be so worried. Why oh why is it so hard to find good people.

[Water]

Anyone know if they can be safely refilled? If a concrete block was refilled with concrete would that be ok? I'm guess it is not that simple.

[JFDIY]

Think I'd be happier to loose 2”  off the room and create a service void for that lot, or just box it in.

 

I'd want the blocks/bricks chopping out and replacing, not just bodging in something over the face as a cosmic patch up

Edited June 4, 2021 by JFDIY

[Water]

I don't mind if the strength is retained but agree losing a couple of inches isnt a problem.

[Vijay]

20 hours ago, Water said:

Yeah that was my concern, they blocks are 100 thick but I'll have to get back down there and measure the depth.

 

Did you get a chance to measure what's been removed/left?

[Nickfromwales]

17 hours ago, Vijay said:

 

Did you get a chance to measure what's been removed/left?

It’s 40mm minimum if a 32mm waste plus the thickness of the fitting has been lost.  So ~60mm of brick plus ~15-20mm of cement render & plaster remains. Not going to fall down any time soon, but probably best to confirm this isn’t taking the hop of the roof or chimney etc before ‘accepting’ this compromise.