Please, please help, clever and knowledgeable people. Sorry for the long story..in brief:
In Oct 2018, builder built a patio and an oak-beam sun room, 3 feet above the garden, at ground floor level of original Victorian house. The patio and run room rest on block and beam (patio is about 5m x 5m quadrant, building is 3m x 3.5m) There are full foundations below the sun room, signed off by building control.
He's put the block and beam about 2 brick courses too high (he ignored architect's drawings). The slabs haven't been laid but when they are, the patio will end up ABOVE the DPC of the old house, while the wooden surrounds of the door and windows of the extension will be one brick course above the patio. There is no room to fit a drain. He proposed a french drain all round the building, but in places there is only 5cm between the block and beam and the DPC.
Builder has run for the hills (well, he's suing me because I refused to pay his full price for the completed building which he has not built - he's had 70% of his quoted price). I've wracked my brains. Two surveyors have failed to find a solution.
Options all sound ghastly:
1. cut off the beams round the outside of the building
-- then either replace them lower, or fill in the void and slab over it. If this is possible without damaging the foundations. Might need a lower brick foundation built alongside the foundation that the building rests on.
2. Raise the interior of the building so the door and windows are at least 15cm above the patio. This is quite scary but a good carpenter has given an estimate and it should be possible. All the windows have to be replaced anyway, (don't meet building regs). The existing DPC would still be below the patio but with some fudging (removing the beam closest to the old wall) I think I could find a way to get a French drain in.
3. use pedestal system for slabs, drill some holes in the blocks and let water fall through, hoping it will drain away safely (underneath is part void, part soil they didn't dig out... (patio layer suggested this).
At present the rainwater must be ending up under the patio (there's a 5cm gap between the last beam and the wall. A little pools against the new building and then evaporates. No visible disasters yet. The original building's foundations were excellent. The soil is clay with quite a lot of stones (brash).
I've tried really hard to get professional advice. I can't use the patio or extension as both are only 3/4 finished. Can anyone suggest the best approach? I can't afford to rebuild it all, it needs to be some sort of compromise.
Please - I just don't know what to do and can't find advice, and legal case is taking all my savings (I'm out of work). You can probably tell I've never done this sort of thing before...
- Can you lower block and beam around an extension built on the block and beam?
- Can you remove the block and beam on the outside of a building built over the block and beam?
He's put the block and beam about 2 brick courses too high (he ignored architect's drawings). The slabs haven't been laid but when they are, the patio will end up ABOVE the DPC of the old house, while the wooden surrounds of the door and windows of the extension will be one brick course above the patio. There is no room to fit a drain. He proposed a french drain all round the building, but in places there is only 5cm between the block and beam and the DPC.
Builder has run for the hills (well, he's suing me because I refused to pay his full price for the completed building which he has not built - he's had 70% of his quoted price). I've wracked my brains. Two surveyors have failed to find a solution.
Options all sound ghastly:
1. cut off the beams round the outside of the building
-- then either replace them lower, or fill in the void and slab over it. If this is possible without damaging the foundations. Might need a lower brick foundation built alongside the foundation that the building rests on.
2. Raise the interior of the building so the door and windows are at least 15cm above the patio. This is quite scary but a good carpenter has given an estimate and it should be possible. All the windows have to be replaced anyway, (don't meet building regs). The existing DPC would still be below the patio but with some fudging (removing the beam closest to the old wall) I think I could find a way to get a French drain in.
3. use pedestal system for slabs, drill some holes in the blocks and let water fall through, hoping it will drain away safely (underneath is part void, part soil they didn't dig out... (patio layer suggested this).
At present the rainwater must be ending up under the patio (there's a 5cm gap between the last beam and the wall. A little pools against the new building and then evaporates. No visible disasters yet. The original building's foundations were excellent. The soil is clay with quite a lot of stones (brash).
I've tried really hard to get professional advice. I can't use the patio or extension as both are only 3/4 finished. Can anyone suggest the best approach? I can't afford to rebuild it all, it needs to be some sort of compromise.
Please - I just don't know what to do and can't find advice, and legal case is taking all my savings (I'm out of work). You can probably tell I've never done this sort of thing before...
