Bay Window Rotational Movement / Subsidence On Survey - Helibar fix?

[GreenKakapol]

Hi! We're buying a late-Victorian single-brick house in NE London and it seems like the biggest thing flagged on the survey is rotational movement of the bay window, with the surveyor recommending a Helibar restraint system (see quotes and photos from the surveyor below). To my (very untrained) eye - nothing looks too scary (eg no huge cracks etc) - Would be amazing to get people's thought on:

• How urgent and serious would you treat this? Something that should be done straight away? If anyone has had similar done - how much it cost, how disruptive it is to interior décor (would paintwork, plaster, laminate flooring etc need to be redone following installation), and was it fully effective?
• What would your next steps be? Talk to a structural surveyor first? Talk to a builder/company who installs such systems?
• How you'd approach in regards to the buying process? Ask the sellers to take the estimate of the work off the value of the house?

Thank you so much for any guidance anyone can provide!

"Vertical cracking has been observed on both the left and right-hand sides of the bay window, at the junction where the bay meets the front elevation. This is likely the result of rotational movement of the bay, which may be due to either the shallow foundations or possibly the recent window replacements. In my opinion, a restraint scheme should be implemented to prevent further movement of the wall in the future. The recommended solution is the installation of a HeliBar system—a series of stainless steel rods designed to stitch the wall together, providing additional stability. This scheme should be applied at the junction where the bay meets the main walls. I recommend that this work be carried out promptly to ensure the wall is stabilised and to prevent any further movement

Sloping of the floors was observed in some areas at the ground and first-floor level. This was noted on the front elevation of the bay at the ground and first-floor level. The floor in this location was observed to be sloping away from the property. This is likely a result of the rotational movement of the bay. The previously suggested works in relation to the stabilisation of the bay should now be carried out."

 

[Cubist]

I'm sorry to say it but I think your best course of action would be to check and tighten the laces of your Nikes and prepare to run like hell.

There is clear evidence that the brickwork around the bay has been repaired in the past near the cills on both floors to confirm your surveyors findings. However, the course of action he/she has recommended merely addresses the Effect and definitely not the Cause. Stitching the brickwork will do little to nothing to protect the house and may in fact add to the houses problems. Assuming that the bays external columns, lintels and cills are stone, it will be very heavy and I would be inclined to suspect that the root problem and cause is subsidence beneath the foundation of the bays walls. Is there a cellar or basement?

If this subsidence were to continue, it could result in the complete collapse of the bay bringing with it any brickwork into which it may have been 'stitched' as suggested. In other words the complete frontage could come down and may even bring some parts of the neighbouring properties with it.

Get a good, reputable, structural surveyor to look closely at this problem before you sign anything and ask him/her to clearly articulate the scale of the risks and the potential cost of all works to safeguard the structure while the foundations are underpinned as I think may be needed.

 

[Gothichome]

I agree with Cubist, there is some thing going on under the footings in the corner with the broken down pipe. I suspect water has been seeping under the foundation for many decades washing away the soil under the footings. I am not really familiar with row housing construction but suspect the proper fix would be a slow jacking of the corner and the addition of a modern cement footing underneath the current footings. Not going to be cheap and most definitely a structural engineer should be involved. Do your neighbors have the same issue? If so did they correct the issues and who did they use, might be worth the conversation.

 

[Stevers]

When I first saw the post I wondered what the problem was, and on the basis that you'd struggle to get a credit card in any of the cracks that I can spot, isn't this just what you'd expect from this sort of element in an older building? It could just be 'breathing' in and out with changes in ground moisture levels.

Fixing drains on the other hand - always a good move!

 

[stuart45]

I think the same as Stevers. From the photos it doesn't look really bad. You'd need to check how plumb the frames and brickwork are. It is quite common on Victorian houses for the bays to have shallower foundations than the main walls. If it is a foundation issue, that would need sorting first.

 

[Cubist]

I'm more than happy to stand corrected but I'm seeing long vertical lines of mortar between the brick returns from the bay and the main wall above the ground floor window that I don't think should be there. Some of these also seem to be much wider than I think they should be. Surely that cannot be right can it?

 

[Stevers]

I'm seeing long vertical lines of mortar between the brick returns

Those 'continuous' joints should zig-zag as the alternating bricks overlap (or bond). Slightly wider joints might be expected due to poor brick cutting.

Sadly, one of my hobbies means that I spend far too much time pondering exactly how bricks should be laid in traditional buildings and what that should look like...

 

[Cubist]

I'm far from being an expert but a zig-zag pattern is precisely what I expected to see. I could accept that perspective and distance could produce an impression of straight lines but some of these mortar joints in the first floor look to be more than a couple of inches wide on the left side of the bay. I could buy bad brick cutting and even the old out of sight out of mind saw, but surely not joints that poor at original build?

 

[stuart45]

The jambs at the upper floor might have been rebuilt at some time in the past. I've had to rebuild a few over the years when windows have been changed.
The internal angles should really have squint bricks, but as is quite common in brickwork what's done on site is different to the textbook.