House
B B
B B Paving
B B Soil
B B Soil
**** 1 CCC
**** CCC
CCCCCCC Hole CCC
CCCCCCC CCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

That's the side section of the middle of a single extension.

B are the two leaves of a cavity wall
* is a concrete strip foundation, about 4-6" deep and 2-3 courses of brick
below ground.

Strip concrete sits on solid (I mean the purest and finest solid) clay.

The front of the strip (1) has been chopped off for 1m in the middle of a 5m
wall by previous builders to bring drain out.

I have a hole open as I'm tweaking teh drains to add a vent stack.

Regarding 1m of the strip foundation being removed, would folk recommend:

a) Fill in the hole and forget
b) Face of the exposed clay under the wall with 6" thick (front to back)
concrete upto the intact foundation either side
c) Ask the BCO?

It's not going anywhere today, but, as the hole's open...

Cheers

Tim

Tim S coughed up some electrons that declared:

House
B B
B B Paving
B B Soil
B B Soil
**** 1 CCC
**** CCC
CCCCCCC Hole CCC
CCCCCCC CCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

That's the side section of the middle of a single extension.

B are the two leaves of a cavity wall
* is a concrete strip foundation, about 4-6" deep and 2-3 courses of brick
below ground.

Strip concrete sits on solid (I mean the purest and finest solid) clay.

The front of the strip (1) has been chopped off for 1m in the middle of a
5m wall by previous builders to bring drain out.

I have a hole open as I'm tweaking teh drains to add a vent stack.

Regarding 1m of the strip foundation being removed, would folk recommend:

a) Fill in the hole and forget
b) Face of the exposed clay under the wall with 6" thick (front to back)
concrete upto the intact foundation either side
c) Ask the BCO?

It's not going anywhere today, but, as the hole's open...

Cheers

Tim


Here's the offending item:

http://photos.dionic.net/v/public/bu..._0027.jpg.html

Anyway, asked BCO to come and have a look. I expect he'll say something
like "shutter it off and fill it with concrete" which is fine by me...

Tim S wrote:
Tim S coughed up some electrons that declared:

House
B B
B B Paving
B B Soil
B B Soil
**** 1 CCC
**** CCC
CCCCCCC Hole CCC
CCCCCCC CCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

That's the side section of the middle of a single extension.

B are the two leaves of a cavity wall
* is a concrete strip foundation, about 4-6" deep and 2-3 courses of brick
below ground.


On clay? Id start digging to underpin that now..while you have the hole
open.


I think my shallowest strips foundations were 1 meter on 'solid clay'

The Natural Philosopher coughed up some electrons that declared:

Tim S wrote:
Tim S coughed up some electrons that declared:

House
B B
B B Paving
B B Soil
B B Soil
**** 1 CCC
**** CCC
CCCCCCC Hole CCC
CCCCCCC CCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

That's the side section of the middle of a single extension.

B are the two leaves of a cavity wall
* is a concrete strip foundation, about 4-6" deep and 2-3 courses of
brick below ground.


On clay? Id start digging to underpin that now..while you have the hole
open.


I think my shallowest strips foundations were 1 meter on 'solid clay'

Well, the house has been there nearly 60 years - I'm not going to start
worrying about that now...

The bit I'm worrying about is the bit that was fiddled with...

Tim S coughed up some electrons that declared:

House
B B
B B Paving
B B Soil
B B Soil
**** 1 CCC
**** CCC
CCCCCCC Hole CCC
CCCCCCC CCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

That's the side section of the middle of a single extension.

B are the two leaves of a cavity wall
* is a concrete strip foundation, about 4-6" deep and 2-3 courses of brick
below ground.

Strip concrete sits on solid (I mean the purest and finest solid) clay.

The front of the strip (1) has been chopped off for 1m in the middle of a
5m wall by previous builders to bring drain out.

I have a hole open as I'm tweaking teh drains to add a vent stack.

Regarding 1m of the strip foundation being removed, would folk recommend:


Well, a very stressed by helpfull BCO turned up today (half term - he's on
his own).

Said, that it wasn't too bad and probably wouldn't fall down if the hole was
repacked solidly. But, he said that a weak concrete infill would do no harm
whatsoever, and for a bit of belt and braces, resin a few studs into the
existing strip so the infil concrete stays attached and helps hold in the
clay.

So that's what we're doing. All shuttered up - got some resin mortar anyway.
Grab some studding tomorrow and job will be done.

BCO took more interest in my fireplace where the old lintel overlapped the
bricks by all of 50mm, then some numpty had come along later and choped the
corners off both edges.

This resulted in the lintel with somewhat reduced support slipping a couple
of mm, a nice triangular crack up the joints of the bricks above and a
section of plaster coming loose because it had better support than the
bricks.

BCO has recommended wedging 2 50x50 lumps of angle iron in bolted each side
of the opening to wedge the lintel up. Ho hum - another job - but a simple
one...

I can even see how it all came about - picture yourself back in the 70's...

Someone's SWMBO: I really like this fire place wotsit - we must have it for
this fire.
Bloke: It won't fit.
SWMBO: Of course it will - and you always say you can do DIY things...

x-weeks of nagivation later...

Bang bang bang! There it fits - happy dear?

SWMBO: Plaster seems loose. Can you fix that too?
Bloke: !$@%%*