Hi,

My house is set back from the road about 20 ft and elevated by about
10ft. A car bay has been cut into the frontage described above. The gas
supply for the house comes from the main road and runs under the car
bay. When it reaches the back wall of the bay it rises out of the
ground, follows the wall up about 7 foot and then disappears into the
retaining wall before emerging inside of the house.

/ \
/_____\
| |
|House |
|______|__
|_Gas
| |_____ Car bay

The retaining wall in front of the house/back of car bay has a crack
running top to bottom. When I bought the house a year ago the crack was
hairline, now its about quarter to half inch wide. Part of the wall
also wobbles.

I have two questions:

1. Should I be worried about this movement with regards the gas pipe?
Could it cause a leak? If so, who do I contact about turning the gas
off and relaying a new pipe if I build a new retaining wall? Will the
gas board ( or who ever ) charge for laying a new pipe?

2. Should I be worried about the movement in the wall with regards the
house itself? There is no evidence of cracks inside and most of the
houses in the terrace have dug out their car bays too - many far closer
to the house than ours. Would you recommend getting a structural
surveyor out?

Many thanks in advance.

1. Should I be worried about this movement with regards the gas pipe?
Could it cause a leak? If so, who do I contact about turning the gas
off and relaying a new pipe if I build a new retaining wall? Will the
gas board ( or who ever ) charge for laying a new pipe?

2. Should I be worried about the movement in the wall with regards the
house itself? There is no evidence of cracks inside and most of the
houses in the terrace have dug out their car bays too - many far
closer to the house than ours. Would you recommend getting a
structural surveyor out?

You need to get it looked at professionally tomorrow!

Peter Crosland