Halloween special: Our guide to three of some of the most frightening house horrors.
Drains:
Drains are the network of pipes that run underground, under your house, from your rainwater and waste water plumbing through to the mains sewer (usually but not always under the street in front of your house).
What can go wrong with drains?
The most common issues are:
Blockages(resulting in sewage getting backed up through the pipes and eventually emerging through your nearest manhole or up through your internal plumbing)
Broken joints or cracks. This results in leaks into the ground under your house, which over time can cause damage to the house (as excessive moisture can cause movement, putting stress on the structure) or seep into cellars and vaults. It can also result in blockages if the break creates a step up in the otherwise downhill flow of the pipe.
What to do if you suspect a problem with your drains?
Arrange a CCTV Drains Survey. Companies that offer this use a camera on a flexible arm to survey the drains and record anything they recommend addressing. If you choose an option with a full report, this will usually include a list of defects with grades in terms of severity. It is useful to talk through the faults with the engineer who prepared the report to understand the details of the issue, how serious it is now, and how it is likely to develop. They will be able to advise whether urgent action is required or whether you could re-survey in some years and review.
How do drains problems get solved?
The Drains specialist companies usually offer solutions:
Blockages can often be jet-washed out or rodded.
Cracks and broken joints can often be repaired from inside the pipe, if there is a fairly straight run from the manhole or other access point to the damage. They use a resin product which is pushed out to form a new internal sleeve. These internal repairs are good because they avoid disruption to your house and finishes, but are still expensive as it is specialist work.
Occasionally, part of the drainage may require excavating and replacing.
Damp:
Damp is something of a catch-all term for water getting in to your home where it shouldn’t be. We’ve written an in-depth post about this here, but in summary, the common problems are:
Leaks from above: A failure of your roof finishes or guttering.
Leaks through your walls: e.g. resulting from cracks in your render or pointing.
Penetrating damp: e.g. if part of your home is underground, water can travel directly from the earth through your wall.
Rising damp: This is dampness being drawn upwards (usually by capillary action) from the ground.
What to do if you suspect a problem with damp in your house?
First, check the outside of your house for overflowing gutters and/ or cracks in the exterior finishes. Even if these aren’t the only sources of problems, they will need to be fixed!
Then, if the moisture is near ground level, engage a Damp Proofing specialist to advise. You should look for a specialist with expertise in your type/ age of house to ensure the recommended solution is suitable for the materials in your house. This is particularly important if your house is listed, as some modern damp proofing methods will almost certainly not be permitted.
If the moisture is near the top of the house, engage a roofer to survey your roof and gutters. They can usually use a camera on a drone to see all areas of the roof safely.
Cracks
Cracks appearing in the internal or external finishes of your house can be scary as a homeowner.
Causes can include:
Different materials expanding/ contracting in hot/ cold weather
For example, if you have an old Lathe & Plaster wall which meets a new plasterboard wall, they may move slightly differently causing cracks in the plaster surface, unless they have been held together with mesh.
Settling
If you have recently had renovation work done, there will be lots of new elements in your house. These can settle/ move slightly in the months following the work, causing cracks. This can also happen if you have had lots of plastering done especially if it has dried very fast. These cracks are usually cosmetic and can be made good by a decorator.
Ground movement
Changes in heat & moisture can change the ground conditions under your house. This is especially the case with clay (of which there is a lot in London!). Many older houses have minimal foundations, which do not resist this movement. This can result in different parts of the house moving slightly differently, pulling open cracks in the brickwork. These sorts of cracks are most likely to appear between extensions/ outriggers and the rest of the house, or the front & back walls.
Previous structural work having been done incorrectly
Surprisingly often, people make structural changes to their houses without consulting a structural engineer. This can include;
Making an opening between rooms without putting a suitable steel/ lintel across the top to support the wall above.
Removing chimney breasts without supporting the stack above.
Putting in a horizontal steel but resting it directly on brickwork without a padstone to spread the load.
Cracks around any of these sorts of features hint at this kind of problem.
What to do if you are concerned about cracks:
Contact a structural engineer. They will likely want some of the decorative finishes removed to expose the brick or blockwork before they can advise, but you can help them to form an initial view on the problem by sending photos, including zoomed out views of the location of the cracks and zoomed in ones with a ruler to show the width at the worst point.
Many cracks are minor and cosmetic, but we’d advise having cracks investigated:
If they are worrying you – it’s good to get peace of mind
If you are having the area redecorated anyway – it’s best to uncover any problems before you make the finishes beautiful
If you have noticed them getting bigger
If they are outside - these can rapidly let in water
Your walls have several jobs to do:
Structural; i.e. staying upright and holding up your floors and roof.
Functional; Keeping rain, temperature changes and noise out, and keeping your house separate from your neighbours!
Aesthetic; i.e. forming a surface for plaster, paint and wallpaper.
Cracks compromise these jobs. Small, stable cracks may well only impact aesthetics and as such you may be happy to live with them. Larger cracks in external walls will have an impact on the functional performance, andshould be addressed as soon as you can arrange. This will also prevent them from developing to weaken the structural performance.
It is quite rare for the structural performance to be at immediate risk (houses move slowly) – so we recommend working swiftly to organise a solution, but not to feel pressured into implementing the solution until you have found a contractor you trust to do the work.
What sort of work is involved in fixing cracks?
This really depends on the severity. It can just involve redecorating or re-plastering. If the bricks have moved apart, you may need a technical solution to ‘stitch’ the brickwork back together, such as ‘Helibars’. If the ground has moved significantly and continues to move, you may need to underpin some of your walls – i.e. create a new foundation to stabilise the movement. This can often be the case with bay windows which are sometimes poorly supported and move somewhat independently of the whole house.
