Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Surveyor specialising in subsidence needed
Many thanks. Michael.
Tags for Forum Posts: subsidence, surveyor
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Protheroe O'Shea on
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Michael do you have large hedges in your front garden? One of my neighbours had a lot of privet that was causing subsidence.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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We don't TW. Unfortunately subsidence seems the most likely as at least two neighbouring houses have the problem, one really badly. I'm hoping it's a street tree as that could be relatively easy to remedy - if it's the six inch foundations going for a wander down to Green Lanes it'll be a pretty major job I think.
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Permalink Reply by vaneska on
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I live in Crouch End and had a serious subsidence problem around 5 years ago, causing a vertical crack from top to bottom on the flank of the house, and some internal damage. Through my previous job I had a contact with a structural engineer who, while not being a subsidence specialist, was a sensible guy and did me a preliminary report for something like £180, finding the likely cause to be a tree in a neighbouring garden. He recommended Falcon, a structural repair company. I also learned that subsidence is a London-wide problem due to the nature of London clay.
I soon realised that I was going to be out of my depth in dealing with my neighbour (friendly but unprepared to foot the cost of tree removal) and managing the entire problem and I approached my insurance company. They were very good and took the entire thing on: first getting soil samples with a geological company who were able to prove that the tree was the culprit; then dealing with the neighbour and paying for the tree to come down; then monitoring the cracks for a considerable time to ensure complete stability; then getting the structural repair people in. It so happened that Falcon was also their own recommended company for such work and they carried it out to a very good standard - very recommendable. However, as with many such large contractors, they fell down somewhat on the non-specialist finishing trades.
I don't remember the final bill exactly, especially as I had some other bits and pieces done while the scaffolding was in place so there were additional costs but I think it was somewhere around £11-13k. Certainly the main insurance job just cost me just the £1000 subsidence premium.
v
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Your insurance company will get its own report done by its loss adjustor whether you get one done or not. I found surveyors charge between £350 and £1,000 a few years back when I had a survey done for just the same reason. It didn't really help with the insurers and as I didn't make a subsidence claim for another year after the damage got worse, I almost felt it wasn't a good idea as it seemed almost as if it could have left me open to accusations of reporting the problem late. I'll see if I can dig out the report I got done and find out the name of the surveyor. I also got a drain survey done which the insurers then also repeated, so a bit of a waste of money. If you think you have a problem, I'd get in touch with your insurers and let them sort it - a street tree caused my issue and it took the council over a year to get it removed, so the sooner you get going the better. You can tell if it is the tree if the damage to your house gets worse over the summer and then moves back a bit over the winter as the tree will not be removing moisture from the soil.
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My insurance took control of everything. I had engineers come out every couple of months over a period of a year assessing movement by measuring from pins across a crack. They then dug down and sent roots off to be analysed so that the right tree was identified and organised the remedial work. So I echo others in recommending getting in touch with your insurers.
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Thanks all for the words of wisdom. I spoke to my insurers who said I could either use their surveyor or employ my own. I thought I might save a bit going down the path of hiring my own surveyor but you've convinced me to put in in the hands of the insurance company.
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Yes, it is Michael. Also, if it is a street tree the council only deal with the issue through your insurance company so it's best to start that way.
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Got in contact with my insurance company today and they have a appointed a surveyor. Looked them up on line and they seem to have a good track record of dealing with this kind of problem so fingers crossed.
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