On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 09:51:46 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named
"RzB" randomly hit the keyboard and
produced:

I have had a builder move a door opening.
See picture 01 on...

www.gillandroy.com/diy/banana

Unfortunately the wall is a little wonky...
Over an inch by the time it reaches the lintel.

A wall that leans by more than a third of its thickness has its centre
of gravity outside the base of the wall, and is therefore inherently
unstable (aka, 'the middle third' rule). From my structures lectures
many, many years ago, I seem to recall that any load applied more than
one sixth of the wall's thickness away from the centre is classed as
'eccentrically loaded' and the ability of the wall to resist turning
moments needs to be calculated.

How have they managed to get it out of plumb anyway? They're building
off the existing foundation at the base, it looks like they're
building up to an existing wall line at the top, and they're tying in
to an existing wall at the side. Either the rest of the house is out
of plumb to begin with or they've managed a major breakthrough in
topographical mathematics. Any chance of posting a photo of the head
of this wall?

Get the Building Control Surveyor to take a look before it's
plastered, preferably with both you and the builder there.

PS. I'd question the lintel as well. It looks to be a 65mm high
pre-stressed one. These need the composite action of at least three
courses of block or bricks above before any substantial point load is
placed over. A 100mm x 150mm pre-cast would be better.

PPS. Why have they used Celcon Solar blocks when ordinary dense or
mediumweight blocks would have been cheaper and better?
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"