Help made crack in the wall

Elevelyn

Hi

I don't know if this is the right place or not.

Im just learning to drive and our driveway is on a slope, anyway I was backing into the drive and banged into the wall of the house!!! :mad::mad:

Its cracked the wall (between 2 windows - its like a pillar) at the base and its pushed the wall a tiny bit in from the inside. the crack is on the inside too.

Its a bungalow so I dont think its a load bearing wall. please help im only renting the house!

Poor Uncle Tom

It might be 'just' a bungalow, but if it's an external wall it is loadbearing.

Can you give us a picture?

I'll move this to the main forum.

becost

There goes your deposit

Sounds similar to this:

Elevelyn

Pictures

inside.JPG inside

outside.JPG outside

Poor Uncle Tom

It's hard to see the crack there. It looks like the brick pillar is the loadbearing section and the window sections are infill parts. Is it the pillar that has moved?

Elevelyn

Yeah its just the pillar I think

Poor Uncle Tom

It's very hard to say from here, does your landlord have the premises insured? accidents happen.

To settle your mind you could have a structural engineer have a look at it.

Man City 10

Buy wood filler from B and Q

Elevelyn

Im guessing its insured, I just want to know how much its likely to cost me - any ideas

Poor Uncle Tom

Elevelyn wrote: »

Im guessing its insured, I just want to know how much its likely to cost me - any ideas

No, you're missing my point. Accidents happen, as long as you did not purposefully drive into the wall, and it is insured against damages, then that is the extent of your liability, imo.

Elevelyn

I still should pay for it, It was my fault even though it was an accident. The owners are elderly and lovely and don't want to mess them around.

Poor Uncle Tom

Elevelyn wrote: »

I still should pay for it, It was my fault even though it was an accident. The owners are elderly and lovely and don't want to mess them around.

Have an engineer take a look at it so, s/he will tell you if there is sufficient damage to warrant removal and re-building of the pillar or if the damage is cosmetic and just needs a touch up.

Elevelyn

Thanks will do that tomorrow. Any idea of how much its gonna cost if the pillar has to be rebuilt - roughly??

Poor Uncle Tom

Support, remove, re-build, plaster, finish, make good connections and tidy up.
Materials and labour €450.

Elevelyn

Really?? I was thinking thousands

RealExpert

It may have been cracked before you hit it also if its a cavity wall I couldnt see it damaging the inner wall but the main thing is dont worry about it.Unless its blatently obvious say nothing about it after all you are just renting it.

Honesty might not be the best policy this time.

Poor Uncle Tom

I am making assumptions here from the pictures and information given. I am assuming that it is only the pillar that is damaged, I am assuming that there is no other supports from the pillar such as lintels or beams, I am assuming that the infill sections and windows were not damaged by the pillar moving, etc, etc.

That is why I suggested you get an engineer to look on-site to give you a definitive answer.

Poor Uncle Tom

RealExpert wrote: »

It may have been cracked before you hit it also if its a cavity wall I couldnt see it damaging the inner wall but the main thing is dont worry about it.Unless its blatently obvious say nothing about it after all you are just renting it.

Honesty might not be the best policy this time.

:eek:

Very poor advice.

Never leave a structurally damaged house unattended to.

Elevelyn

Thanks poor uncle tom for all your advice, will just have to check with professionals tomorrow.

Thanks again

Elevelyn

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Support, remove, re-build, plaster, finish, make good connections and tidy up.
Materials and labour €450.

Just a quick update. You were on the ball with the cost. Should only take about 4/5 hours work - thank god, was told if i had a hitch on the back it would be a disaster!

Just wanted to say thanks again for your help