Collapsing path!

kilman

Hi Guys,
I was looking at a property at the w/end which I'm very interested in buying but one thing i noticed was that part of the path had broken off.
The back path runs along the house and around the utility room which extends in to the garden.Where the path runs along the front of the utility room, the whole section has broken off.
I also noticed that the wall between that house and its neighbour has a serious crack(about .5 cm) and finally the cement bricks that the oil tank is on has moved sideways about 4 inches.
Its hard to describe this and a picture would show it obviously.
The garden appears to be quite wet and the soil level appears at least 4 inches below the surrounding path.

To me it appears that for some reason the path collapsed(foundations set on uncompacted soil?) and that caused the oil tank bricks to shift(as these are adjactent to the path). Finally I think the wall cracked as about 3 foot of the wall would have been sitting on the path which collapsed.


I think to sort this out I'd need to do the following
-the path would have to be taken out(maybe the oil tank also).
-Have a load of top soil placed on the garden.
-Add to the fountain for the path.
-Have a new path set.
-Perhaps even have the wall knocked and rebuilt.

Anybody any experience on this? I'm just wondering if I should forget about this property

Victor

I wouldn't overly worry about damage to paths or gardens walls, just deduct the cost of putting them right from your bid. I would be worried if there is any damag eto the house.

kilman wrote:

I also noticed that the wall between that house and its neighbour has a serious crack(about .5 cm)

The garden wall or the house wall? If its the house wall I would advise you get an engineer to look at it, before you buy.

Is there anything to indicate why the garden is wet? Broken sewer? Bottom of hill?

kilman

Victor,
I've attached a picture but blanked out certain things. I have marked the areas that concern me.

Sponge Bob

Thats an old crack ! speak to the potential future neighbour who may have the same problem

Victor

Its odd that it would settle that way (slope away from house), so I'm guessing two things (a) the drain from that gulley is leaking (2) poor construction.

I can't see teh crack in the wall very well, but are you saying there is a long horizontal crack? Oddness.

squire1

It looks like the path was built directly onto the soil of the garden without a foundation/hardcore and the garden has settled. Not a big problem, just break out the affected area and build it properly. Looks like the settlement may have damaged your waste water pipes also but you will not know for sure until you break out the concrete.

Can't really see your oil tank but I suspect it was built on top of the path (which contributed to the path sinking). Again not a big problem, just knock it down and rebild properly (off the path this time). I am assuming here that the oil burner is inside the house and not on the bit of picture you have blanked out. If it is outside on the path you may have some issues regarding the pipework.

Again, cannot really see the crack in the garden wall but have a chat with the neighbour or see if there is a problem on the other side. If it was built by the same guy that done the path then its probably just bad foundations.

It looks like none of these issues are serious as they do not affect the house directly but if you are planning to buy make sure you point it out to the surveyor and get a report done on it.

kilman

Thanks for the advice guys

Victor,Looking at the picture again it is difficult to see the crack but it runs horizontally from left of the red arrow all the way to the house(wall looks shabbily built as it does not meet with the house neatly).

squire1,The garden certainly has settled, the whole garden appears to have dropped about 4-5 inches from the surrounding path.I suppose I can simply get some top soil for this?
Would you imagine it would be expensive to correct?

squire1

There is no need to have the garden at the same level as the paths but if you want to import topsoil to bring it up to the same level as the repaired path then do so. I would suggest, however that you rotavate the current soil to aerate it a bit as it looks a bit dead and sticky and reseed the lawn. As Victor pointed out there may be some water coming from somewhere or else there is bad drainage as the garden looks very wet. Best to get that sorted first.

The path should not be too expensive to correct. All you are looking at is five or six barrow loads of CL804 (hardcore) and about the same in concrete that you can mix on site yourself. You might have to hire a skip to take away the rubble.

From what you are saying it looks like just bad workmanship all around. Is the utility room an extension to a pre-existing building or part of the original build. Are there any other botch jobs apparent around the house. I strongly suggest a comprehensive surveyors report before you purchase.

kilman

squire1,
I certainly will be getting a surveyor done(even if this issue did not exist).

The utility room is part of the original house. Internally everything looks ok, no cracks or damp patches but a trained eye will surely see more!
Cheers guys