Bank holiday surprise

[Nick Thomas]

This morning I noticed something a bit... off about the rear garden boundary wall.

 

 

 

it's a low brick wall with these high pillars (3x2x18 bricks) at regular intervals, with the spaces between filled with wooden panels. This one is no longer connected to the course below it; pushing it is like worrying a wobbly tooth. Chatting to the neighbours, they remember a van backing into it recently, which is probably the cause.

 

I've poked the insurance, hoping they had a builder on retainer who could come make it safe, at least, over the bank holiday. Waiting for a callback, but not holding out a great deal of hope at this point. I've slapped a warning sign and some hazard tape on it to cover liability, at least, but thinking about how I could make it safe without killing myself.

 

I could get a rope around it and pull from a distance, but there's decking in front of it inside the garden, and a public road outside, so it doesn't seem like a good option.

 

Start at the top and take it down brick by brick with a mortar rake or something?

 

Once it is down, I've been thinking about putting a gate in this wall anyway (there's no access from the back at the moment) so it'd be an opportunity to make it so. Would that need to be run past the local authority first?

[ToughButterCup]

My instinct here is to say to you:  just do it. And if anyone reports it to the council and they decide to take some kind of action, it'll only be  retrospective planning permission. You could argue that it was to improve safety

[Nick Thomas]

Thanks; I guess that's referring to the switch from wall to gate? I found https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/fences-gates-and-garden-walls/planning-permission which kind-of suggests it's fine without. Still need to figure out the takedown though.

 

[PeterW]

Good opportunity for fixing the unprotected twin & earth running round too …!

[Temp]

I don't believe you need Planning Permission for a new pedestrian access. Think it's only needed for vehicle access.

 

I hope his van was badly damaged.

[Nick Thomas]

@PeterWHah, yeah, the only saving grace about that cabling is that it terminates in a 13A plug in the garage which is very much never plugged in. Came with the house like that.

 

Accidents happen, but it must have been a very solid bump to move it like that. No ill will though, the insurance system prioritises liability and it'll be someone worked to the bone as an "independent" courier, most likely.

 

For the brick-by-brick approach, my angle grinder is sadly out of commission at the moment , so I was looking at alternatives. Apparently you can get diamond chains for chainsaws; and hand saws that cut through concrete. All very exciting, but maybe it's better to just let it take out the decking?

Edited April 29, 2023 by Nick Thomas

[Canski]

Hammer and bolster for a couple of hours or a small sds breaker for an hour would get that down. I wouldn’t panic it’s not going anywhere. 

[Nick Thomas]

As I say, it's like a wobbly tooth. To be more precise, mild pressure can get the whole pillar to pivot back and forth around that brick on the right hand side, the one that's still vaguely in line with the wall. No idea what's going on in the crack, but it's not stable. If it were, I'd be nibbling away at it from the top down, for sure.

 

Insurers want to have a claim assessor look at it... on Wednesday, which adds another complication. Pretty uncomfortable leaving it like this for that long.

Edited April 29, 2023 by Nick Thomas

[PeterW]

Hammer and bolster and work from the ‘safe’ side.

 

Downside will be that for insurance purposes it goes on your claims as they can’t recover it - they will only pay to rebuild it, and even then with excess it will probably be net cost to you anyway. 
 

could always take a video of it rocking and photos from all sides and drop it over the weekend for safety reasons and show the assessor the images / video. 

[SteamyTea]

Have you got anything you can cover the decking with?

Sheet of ply, or even an old duvet or two.

[Nick Thomas]

I ended up wimping out and leaving it. Insurers have got a subcontractor who has a subcontractor they're sending out to demolish it tomorrow, so will see how they approach it.

[Nick Thomas]

They ended up doing it brick by brick with a bolster, just... gingerly. Left me with a nice pile of bricks.

 

 

I cleaned them off by hand, and today started building back up. Got 39 laid with the mortar that was in stock (I'm lazy and didn't fancy mixing my own, so went for those 20kg sand/cement dry mix bags):

 

 

4 more bags of mortar coming Tuesday, I should be able to get it finished then. It's not perfect, but I'm feeling quite pleased with it.

 

The insurers offered a cash settlement of £550, minus £200 excess so £350. I saved ~£100 by re-using the old bricks, the mortar is coming to about £120, so I should have some cash left over afterwards. Maybe a celebratory BBQ once I'm done.

[Nick Thomas]

 

Incredibly dodgy in places, but I did get it done, back at the end of May ^^