Hole in my Wall, Any builders on here ?

dseered

dseered

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Well after the next door neighbour bashing and banging around all day yesterday, I went in the cellar this morning and there is a hole through from his cellar.

My guess is that when he finally plucks up the courage to tell me what he has done he will offer to patch it up.

Well as the house is early 1800's the walls are bloody thick, at the point where he has come through I would say at least 3 feet, now my concern is how much more of his side has he hacked out and will this have affected the structural integrity of the house, if it needs support it needs it sooner rather than later.

My preferred course of action would be for him to get an engineers report and then of course have a tradesman make good the damage on my side. I really don't want to have to be claiming on my insurance as I have done nothing wrong.

Any ideas on the next course of action, I know you can't really comment on the damage as you can't see it but where do I go from here, just want to be armed with some ideas before I go round !
 
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Holy poo!

Firstly you need to get an engineer (surveyor) of your choice around to assess the 'damage' at the the expense of your neighbour.

Obviously it's got to be fixed (unless you're really friendly with each other!)

Both of you need to get quotes for the work to be done and your neighbour should have to pay for the work because the damage is no fault of yours. If your neighbour chooses one of your quotes then he will have to instruct the builder to get the work done and pay for it (or claim on their insurance). If it's one of his quotes, then you should insist on a surveyor to make sure the work is done to the required standards (again at their expense). You might want to insist on a surveyor to check the work regardless anyway.

It may be worth giving your insurance a quick call to see where you stand on all of this. Worst case, you'll need to get a solicitor involved.

I've got no legal qualifications by the way! These are just my opinions - if you have any doubt, speak to a solicitor
 
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How bigs the hole ?.

this thread needs photos, and you should take some for reference later if things go tits up.
 
Follow Carol's advice.
But, on the building side, I could nearly call myself a builder after the extent of work I have done myself on my old cottage
I am assuming when you say it is 3ft thick that it is stone built, my house is the same with walls 3ft thick. They are constructed with blocks/random stone on the outside but inside it is mostly rubble held together with the old lime mortar of the day which will have lost its strength over the years.
When I was creating another doorway in my house the inner rubble was very loose and I had to install box section lintels asap before I knocked through.
It is nowhere near as easy as knocking through a brick wall and you have to be very careful how each stone is removed.
I hope your neighbour knows what he is doing and legaly he should have informed you of any work he is doing to what is known as a "party wall".
 
He should also have gained planning permission and building regulation approval from the local authority before commencing any work !!
 
Assuming your cellar ceiling is built into the wall, I would get some temporary supports installed asap. This should help prevent any damage to your property.
I'm intrigued as to why your neighbour was knocking through an adjoining wall anyway.
 
He has broken the rules of the Party Wall Act. As I understand it he now has to pay for your choice of solicitor and structural engineer to look into this.
I would be very very concerned about what else he is doing and its potential impact on your property.

Get yourself off to the Pyramus and Thisbe Club. It is the best source of info.
http://www.partywalls.org.uk/
 
what the hell is the neighbour trying to do?

I would suggest that any hole, no matter how wide, in a three feet thick basement wall of an older building needs expert attention NOW! Personally, and from what you have said, I wouldn't want to sleep in the house until it has been declared safe by an engineer.
 
nilagin said:
Assuming your cellar ceiling is built into the wall, I would get some temporary supports installed asap. This should help prevent any damage to your property.
Click to expand...

Thats a good point. I would be slapping some struts in. Also I wouldnt be waiting for him to come round and talk to me. HSS/Skipton Hire / whoever your local people are will do props and strongboys etc

As said, if it is a rubble filled wall there is the distinct possibility of collapse. Houses/barns do fall down when people do stuff like this. Also the cellar walls may in effect be the foundations.
 
Danger arises if it is a load bearing wall, i.e., is it supporting the roof.

I would not wait for your neighbour to tell you about it. Let this go too long and he may deny it was him then you'll end up in a stalemate.

I'd have actually got the police even just from the point of view of getting the facts formally recorded because he has damaged your property.

Is he some sort of Frank Spencer type?
 
A genuine case of breaking and entering?
 
In the trade, although not a builder.

Agree with all thats been said, but really the outcome depends pn what your neighbour was doing. Speek to them asap if you havent already, and get photos from bothsides if possible. Impossible to say if the building is safe without knowing more, i.e what its supporting, how much has been removed the otherside, location within length of wall etc. I wouldnt say one way or the other personally as it isnt my field of work.
 
Don't panic, without evidence ie photos, I cannot asses anything. You need to describe how big the hole is, loadbearing etc.

Just to put you at ease a little, say the hole was 5 feet across, there must be some kind of support on top of the offending wall, I doubt a wall that is 3 feet thick would cause any structural damage.

Send piccies please.
 
OK, panic over - I have been round, I was nice and inspected from the other side, his, like my cellar has a fireplace. His had been covered over in years gone by and he is removing all the plaster and taking it back to stone.

As the light had not been on in my cellar he was unaware that the hole had appeared as it was very high and at the back of the chimney. I actually had to look for the hole from his side so I can agree with this. There is a stone lintel and all he has done is taken it back to original, I am happy that no structural work has been done and the stuctural integrity is intact.

He is going to make good the damage on my side and we have agreed that the next mix of cement will be next weekend, he is also re-pointing all the stonework on his side so that is fair enough.

I can sleep easy ;)

Many thanks for the help and advice, alls well that ends well and all that !
 
In my boring pedant mode I woud say that concrete is the wrong materia. Shoud be ime mortar


b****r - my keyboard seems to be packing up. No "etter after K" or singe "
 
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