Could Strengthening Your Foundation Affect Your Neighbour's Property?
If you intend to build an extension onto an existing property, you will first need to bring in some structural engineers. They'll certainly need to look at your current building and assess the quality of the foundation but may also need to look at other areas before they can recommend a path ahead. What factors will they need to consider as they understand the challenge ahead?
The Need for Strengthening
Most people would understand that adding a new floor on top of your house would put much more downward pressure on the foundations beneath. Yet it is also important to assess the quality of the existing foundation if you are building sideways instead. In this case, you may be adding more room to a smaller kitchen or installing a granny flat on the same level as your downstairs accommodation. Either way, the work performed will impact the existing foundation, and you need to assess it carefully.
Affecting Other Properties
Furthermore, engineers will need to determine how any strengthening work (often called underpinning) will impact the ground in the surrounding area. If you have a near neighbour, how will the work affect the stability of their property? In many cases, underpinning or strengthening on your side of a boundary could impact the building on the other side.
Making Calculations
Structural engineers will often open up a test hole to look at the current foundation. Don't be surprised if they recommend underpinning and tell you how this should be performed. One of the most common approaches is to introduce a large amount of concrete in a structured fashion. This is a very efficient and simple way to underpin but has to be done carefully in order to protect the existing structure.
If it is found that the proposed load will be too heavy for the current foundations, the engineers will first make very precise calculations. They'll determine how mass concrete underpinning will affect the land in the relevant area and may make alterations to ensure that the best possible solution is picked.
Inspectors
Don't forget that local government inspectors will want to review the work as it goes on, but they will liaise with your underpinning contractors in order to form a plan.
Moving Forward
Remember, the work you perform on your own property may have an impact on your neighbours. This is why it's important to choose underpinning contractors who know precisely what they are doing and who will work carefully with structural engineers.
Reach out to residential underpinning contractors for more information.
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