foundations

Hi - I am applying for a build over agreement with Thames Water to build over a sewer. They require "Existing" and "Proposed": a) Cross-sectional foundation plan b) Ground floor plans How do people usually determine the existing foundation plan? Do you actually dig down until you see the...

Hi It seems i'm trying for the record of the longest time taken to do an extension! I am hitting so many problems! After much advice & discussion with several structural engineers and the recommendation of the building officer, I am having the foundations for my two storey extension piled...

hi all im building a large gym in my garden which is 9.7m by 3.8m i have dug the trenches and they are 800mm deep which the building inspector is happy with. he has said i can trench fill upto 400mm and trench block the rest. ive been offered some thermalite blocks 3.6n could i use these as...

Can anyone tell me how far, very roughly, the concrete generally projects from the face of an underpinned wall please? Been digging a small trial pit to expose the foundations of my neighbour's Victorian flank wall, as I need to build some new footings adjacent to this, and have exposed some...

Hey guys, I am working on a new construction home in Colorado and have done most of the drawings myself. I really love a slab floor and it is one aspect I don't want to bend on. Most of my professional work is in concrete and the home has a lot in it. All of the exterior walls are full height...

He'll, Need a bit of advice. I'm building a porch (well doing some of the donkey work to save money). I've gone down 900mm, but about 20cm from the bottom the electric cable runs thought it perpendicular at the front of what will be the porch. My builder friend says dig a few extra inches down...

NWe are getting quotes to pile foundation a 4.5 x 1.8m utility room which is single storey and single bricked utility room. It was built at the back of the single story kitchen extension built in 1977(ish) and has signs of slipping into the adjacent brook - although its hard to tell if its...

We have an awesome sloping garden. The previous owners had a huge deck (including pond) which had become a 'little' worse for wear. Anyway we're going to try and terrace the thing. First section up is where the pond used to be. I started digging a trench for foundations for the retaining...

(Disclaimer - I am not a builder, so please excuse my lack of knowledge and possibly use of wrong terminology, etc.) We have had piling and a ring beam done, required because of the close proximity to a 5m deep drain (shown on the right of the plan running down side of house). The piles had to...

Hi, bit of a querie here. Also first post so go easy on me! :-) I'm just excavating to block pave my drive. However it seems the foundation project a lot further forward than the outside brickwork. Can I cut this and dig it away in line with the brick ready for hardcore etc??

Hi, we're planning to build single storey extension next to the boundary. Our neighbours (semi-detached) already have extension on the other side - with the wall 4'' from the boundary and the foundations on the boundary. We'll be digging our trench right up to their foundations and probably to...

Hi Does anyone know how close foundations can be laid adjacent to an existing drain(foul). The drain is private and the foundations would run parallel to it. I understand that the foundations need to be laid below the bottom of the drain run which is fine Thanks

Hi I've lived in my house for 12 years and the current kitchen window before we moved in, used to be patio doors to the garden. The previous owner bricked it up and put a window in. I think he did the work himself. I have always noticed some missing or loose cement between the new bricks he put...

Hi guys I am after some advice please?! We have a 30 year old house, brought it 6 years ago and had new Windows installed just after the purchase which included a bay window replaced and rebuilt. We started noticing small cracks on the inside bay wall about a year ago but thought they were...

Hi guys, I am about to build a shed/workshop in my garden. I am sinking the structure down about a foot at the deepest (on a slight slope) so as to get best headroom as near neighbours (thus it is 2.5m high). I am planning to do knee high brick and concrete block dual walls with resting timber...

Hi Everyone, New to the forum and about to buy my first house. This house has a conservatory with no seperation from the main house. So the whole of the ground floor back wall has been removed. Anyway, one side of the conservatory is a dwarf wall and uPVC DG windows which look out onto the...

Some advice please – I planning a single skin brick/block garage [building regs approval not required], one side will be <1m from my neighbor's garage and above a disused rubble soak-away [clearly 5m rule didn't exist when that was dug out]. What is the minimum work necessary to achieve...

I’ve reclaimed a concrete sectional garage, and plan to rebuild it as a shed. The shed dimensions are likely to be 3m by 6m. Each panel is 60cm wide by 1m high. So I’ll be using two panels to get to my full height of 2m. The shed is at the back of the garden, with only a narrow 80cm access...

First post so I will introduce myself ,I am a tiler who is currently having an extension built by my neighbour who is a general builder/ brick layer We are very early in the build and have just had the foundations dug out the builder had to go deeper than usual as we had a sewer main running...

I have a 100mm drain pipe which will go through my foundations at a depth of 1m. The manhole is outside the footings of the extension so it only the protection of this clay drain I need to be concerned about. The foundations are very deep, up to 2.4 meters. I am thinking of something like...