I don't like the look of this corbelling. Is it OK?

[Tony L]

Me again – sorry.  Here’s another mess, for you to think about, please.

 

My builder explained, a week ago, the reasons why this corbel, was absolutely fine.  Since then, I have uncovered defects in his work so now I’m doubting his explanation.   Before I tell him, to pull it all apart & do it in the way we agreed it would be done, I’d be grateful for any comments/advice, please.

 

The front of the house is the wall on the left side of picture 4.  My idea was to have a small pier (120mm) off the front corner of the house, to hide the rain water downpipe, which is on the side of the house, when the house is viewed from the road.

 

Drawing 1 shows an extra bit of poured foundation, circled in red, to support this pier.  The extra brick was drawn narrow side on, instead of wide side on; this was corrected on the drawing the builder has, & I discussed this detail with the builder.

 

When I first saw what he’d built off the foundation, it was just a little stub of concrete coming up – a little smaller than half a brick, where the red circle is on the picture 4.  Also, he’d put 2 downpipes in to the drain, one of which was right up against the half brick sized pier.  See pictures 2 & 3.

 

I told the builder, the downpipe nearest the pier wasn’t required so he should take it out & build the pier up off the concrete, the size of a full brick, as agreed.  He didn’t do this.  He took the top off the redundant downpipe, which is still connected into the IC (you can see inside the blue circle in picture 4), put a lintel over it & said everything would be fine because the pier would be corbelled.  This corbelled pier will stop short of the roof, because the roof will slope down to the front of the house & a hidden gutter will feed water across the front of the house, through 90 degrees over the pier  then into the downpipe.

 

The active downpipe, in pictures 2 & 3, had to be re-done because the rainwater is going into the drain & no trap had been fitted.

 

Is the corbelling OK, or do I tell the builder to pull it all apart, take the redundant downpipe off, & build up properly off the foundation, as he first agreed to do?

 

Everything you see here (with the possible exception of the top course of bricks) will be under ground.  There will be a path up against the walls of the house.

 

How is the trap supposed to be supported, underneath & to the sides?  It was just hanging in space when the picture was taken.  If we have a storm like they had in Valencia recently, I should think nothing short of a deep concrete bed under the trap will suffice.  I was expecting a bottle gulley, which would have been easier to support, but I suppose this type is better, because it will allow more flow.

[Tony L]

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[Tony L]

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