smart70 Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 Hello everyone I was wondering if anyone can give some advice on cracking on the garage base please ? As you can see from the pics the garage base is on a slope so the damage might be caused by subsidence. The concrete base itself has no cracking and is flat which is good news, however (in pic 9) there is a crack from the top to the bottom, and (in pic 7) the brickwork is coming away. Also in in pic 11. it looks like the footer is exposed. It would appear the wall is a retaining wall as it does not support the concrete base. What I plan, is to repair the crack in the wall using mortar filler, and reattach the concrete blocks that are coming away. Is this a good idea ? Not sure about the base, does it require underpinning or not ? Just recently moved into the property. The old prefab garage with asbestos roofing was demolished last year. What I would like, is to build a wooden garage in its place. If anyone can give me some advice on this I would be most grateful Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 My take is that "surrounding" wall has been filled presumably with some hardcore or other infill, and that is creating outward pressure on that wall which is now spreading and pushing apart. that "surrounding" wall should have been built as a retaining wall for that application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickie Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 (edited) If that’s a single skin wall all the way round then I’d say it’s not substantial enough to retain the load within. You could possibly add some buttressing but I’d get some pro advice from an SE before building anything else on top of it. None of my business byt are you sure you want your garage that far back in your garden? Why not adjacent to the house? Edited October 14, 2021 by Brickie Pedantry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 Yup. Should have been block on flat for the majority of that wall so it can retain. No sign of buttresses either, which cannot really be introduced retrospectively and effectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 If you can get a structural engineer to design something cheap, it would be your best bet. Having rain on it getting in all the gaps and behind the wall will be making it far worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 Thank you for the reply's everyone. I have asked for structural engineer to inspect the garage base. In the mean time I will cover the cracking to prevent anymore rain from getting in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 2 hours ago, Brickie said: If that’s a single skin wall all the way round then I’d say it’s not substantial enough to retain the load within. You could possibly add some buttressing but I’d get some pro advice from an SE before building anything else on top of it. None of my business byt are you sure you want your garage that far back in your garden? Why not adjacent to the house? A buttress or two would be a good idea, I will ask the structural engineer when he comes round. The reason I would like the garage at the rear of the house, is because there would be a garage within a garage due to the tall driveway gates by the house. This I think is better security wise when storing equipment, tools etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 If you are wanting to build anything on here, forget the SE (put that towards ripping it all out and starting again). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted December 10, 2021 Author Share Posted December 10, 2021 Hi everyone. Just giving you an update on the repairs to the garage foundations. It would appear that concrete pillars have been constructed at the corners to support the foundation and as mentioned by members hardcore has been placed inside. I decided to remove all the concrete blocks along the top which had become weathered and also the concrete block that had cracked. On removal of the blocks no hardcore came out, which was a good sign. I decided it would be a good idea to strengthen the hardcore by adding some concrete (see 2nd pic). As you can see the completed job looks a lot neater and tidy. The next stage will be rendering the concrete blocks with plaster and then painting it white. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andehh Posted December 11, 2021 Share Posted December 11, 2021 Looks like a neat job & much better....the fact its solid concrete behind means there is not lateral forces acting on those blocks, I'm no structural engineer though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted December 11, 2021 Share Posted December 11, 2021 When I built a garage on a similar slope years ago my SE insisted on block on flat plus vertical block, total 400mm thick retaining wall, slightly OTT in my opinion. If it were me I would get some flat steel say 2m x 50mm by 8mm, bend in the middle and strap the top row of blocks round the corner with concrete screws, this will spread the load and stop the blocks being pushed off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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