STRUCTURAL
REPAIRS
Unwanted movement in buildings can cause a good deal of distress and worry for homeowners. Subsidence, physical disturbance and a failure of building materials are just some of the factors that can impact on the structural integrity of a property. Fortunately, while there are many reasons why a building can move, modern repair technology and advances in application techniques mean that effective solutions are on hand to tackle the problem.
Buildings can move for a variety of reasons, including;
- Ground movement or subsidence
- Inadequately restrained or tied walls
- Movement brought on by water ingress and timber decay into the structure
- Failed lintels or building materials
- Movement fatigue
- Mechanical impact or disturbance
Surprisingly, despite the unusual climate the UK has seen in recent years – moving seamlessly between flood, drought and extremes of temperature – the weather is not the most common cause of problems to a building’s structure. In extreme dry weather, problems can arise as soil shrinks due to a lack of water, which can ultimately lead to cracks appearing in buildings. This is because, as the soil that sits around and below the walls and floors of a home becomes dryer, it can shrink.
Crack stitching using profiled stainless steel bars, resin grout and other innovative products and materials, is now widely accepted as an effective method of repair. These systems are highly effective in dealing with a huge range of situations where repair, reinforcement, stabilisation or when improvements are needed to the structural strength of stone, concrete and brick structures. Lintel replacement and panel strengthening can also be undertaken, often saving huge sums that would otherwise have been spent on demolition and rebuilding. In many situations invasive rebuilding and the disturbance of historic structures can be minimised with the repaired building often showing little evidence of any intervention to correct structural problems.