Cracked sandstone gable end walls

[ricky146a]

Hello all.
I am new to this site so will tell you a little about myself and my project.

I have turned 60 and have a lifetime of DIY experience including houses and yachts, lots of carpentry and home improvement etc.
However I am an expert in none of these - merely competent!

I have bought a detached cottage in the North East on the coast.
It is a mess but needs saving.
There is a long vertical crack in the gable end wall. According to my architect relation, it looks like the alterations made in the loft put pressure on the timbers as the roof frames tried to settle.
Also a couple of new windows in the rear wall were probably not pre-stressed correctly resulting in cracks in the walls around them.
I have checked as best I can inside the house and the inner walls do not appear to have any damage or cracks.

My plan is to repoint the entire gable end wall and the rear wall. The house was rendered with what looks like portland cement render so this will have added to the damage I would think. It was stripped off by the previous owner prior to his business going bankrupt and causing the loss of the house. I will also be using Bricktor stainless mesh across the cracks etc. The wall will then be re-rendered in lime render.
Before I do all this I will be adding support to the roof frames to stop any further spreading.

This is only a brief explanation of the job in hand and I can put up photos once I discover how to.
Edit.
Hope these photos work. Ignore the date on them - forgot to set my camera properly.

I was surprised to find that the interior stone walls are undamaged.
A new tile roof was done a few years ago. Possibly the extra weight also played a part in spreading the roof frames??



Looks to me as if the new windows are in part to blame for the walls failing.
Any suggestions or advice or total contradiction of my proposed repairs would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks guys.

 

[ricky146a]

I am continually thinking about the problems on this house.
I get the keys next Wednesday (13th August).

The interior of the house has been remodeled in the not too distant past as in this pic of the stairs

and this


The stairs have been turned into the lounge rather than straight ahead to the front door. Also the stairs would have been in a hallway with a passage beside them leading to the rear where doors would have given access to the kitchen or lounge. This dividing wall has been removed.

I am wondering whether the brick wall seen beside the stairs (where the plaster has been removed) would have continued up through the upper floot all the way to the ridge and then whether this wall would have been structural and load bearing.
Any thoughts??

The front of the house just to give an idea of orientation.

 

[Feltwell]

All of what you say sounds very sensible to me - certainly addressing the roof spread has to be a high priority. I'd be tempted though to stitch that crack together with helibars before you render. A structural engineer's site inspection & opinion may be worth getting.

 

[billybuntus]

All of what you say sounds very sensible to me - certainly addressing the roof spread has to be a high priority. I'd be tempted though to stitch that crack together with helibars before you render. A structural engineer's site inspection & opinion may be worth getting.

Sound advice. It'll not be that cheap (maybe £200-£300) for a kit I would have thought but a worthwhile investment.

Give these lot a call and send some pictures http://www.helifix.co.uk/

 

[JoceAndChris]

Welcome to the forum! Gosh, you have your work cut out for you don't you. And you get the prize for the most spectacularly coloured frontage seen in a long while

Be reassured as these old houses aren't bothered by a crack or two - it does need sorting though. As for your query about whether you had a landing wall (with presumably a doorway or archway in it to take you to the bedrooms ), I think that sounds an unlikely bit of architecture. However I may be reading your question and photo wrongly.

Lime render is lovely - just having the whole house done! £16,000 for the plastering alone excluding stripping and stone repair. Will you have a go at the plastering yourself?

Good luck with it all, it looks a proper project and will make a handsome house!

 

[ricky146a]

Thanks for the relies and encouraging comments.
Yes, I will be stitching the cracks in many various places then also using bricktor as reinforcement in other areas as well.

JoceAndChris. Thankyou for the prize! I am not really a pink person so I think the colour scheme will end up being medium grey corner stones and white frontage.
The front is a cement render at the moment as is the left hand gable wall. I do not feel inclined to strip that just now but time will tell.
I will certainly be doing the pointing and first/second coat of render but will call in an expert for the final coats as I want a decent finish and my plastering skills are non-existent. Although maybe a rough finish may look good as well - stop it looking like a concrete block! £16,000 ! Ouch! It will look fantastic when it is complete though.

I am looking forward to getting stuck in next week and I know it will be many months of hard work. My priority though will be the outside as this needs doing and time to dry before the colder months set in - and that is only 3 months or less.

Once I start I will begin a new thread which hopefully will chart my progress - good and bad - and I am sure I will be asking lots of questions.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Good idea to lose the pink, much as I love the colour, it's not really suitable for that house is it!

Just on your plastering, a rough and lumpy finish would not suit that handsome, formal, building. The plastering is built up in three coats, the first dubbing out acts as a mortar and a preparation for the next, and must be smooth. The second coat should also be flat and perfect - if you look at my "Pleased with Works" thread you can see how perfect the second coat is. If those initial coats were lumpy it would be virtually impossible to get the third one straight.

If you're interested in plastering and have a lot to do it would certainly pay for itself to go on a lime plastering course, some of our members have done this and achieved fantastic results.

 

[plasticpigeon]

What a nice looking house, and a big project!! I can't quite work out the layout of your house from the photos, but if I have interpreted the pictures and description correctly then I can imagine the wall you are talking about going all the way to the top of the living space but i don't know about going into the loft and up to the ridge. A family I know live in a double fronted house from the 1870s and they have a hall as you describe with stairs just offset to the right from the front door and going straight up. There is a wall on the right of the stairs that goes at least to the upstairs ceiling but I haven't a clue if it goes as far as the ridge. In their house there is a large dual aspect living room to the right of the stairs with the door to that room to the right of the front door before the stairs, and a smaller room which is is now and could always have been a bathroom and 2 other living rooms to the left of the stairs off the hallway. There is also access to a cellar and other rooms out back from the back of the hall. The upstairs rooms are a similar layout to the downstairs.

 

[ricky146a]

Thanks Plasticpidgeon.

Yes it sounds as if the house you describe is similar albeit a mirror image.
I have tried to draw up some basic plans.

This is not really to scale but you get the idea. Accurate plans will be drawn up next week.
The attic stairs will need replacing as they are currently far too steep and narrow - more like steps down into a yacht.
Headroom in the attic is fine and well over 2.2 metres.

 

[Flyfisher]

The attic stairs will need replacing as they are currently far too steep and narrow - more like steps down into a yacht.

Should be fine. It's not as if the house will be rolling and pitching . . . . I hope :wink:

 

[ricky146a]

Well, I have now completed on the purchase and spent 2 days in the house examining the work that needs doing.
I also called in a carpenter/builder to discuss it with me as well.

It appears that the last owner removed the range fireplace or Inglenook in the kitchen but failed to support the upper chimney breast - it is now sitting on a couple of king stones and nothing else. First job on Tuesday will be to start cleaning the area of the removed fireplace and blocking it back up properly. We did consider reinstating the Inglenook but I think that would just be too expensive and an unnecessary step. All this relates to the damage in the pics above seen through the holes in the plasterboard. A brickie has been organised for the job with me as labourer.
We think this may also be part of the cause of the crack in the gable end wall.

The upstairs landing has had the wall referred to removed as suspected but the floorboards have been positioned at the wrong height resulting in a severe slope.
The gas boiler is a combi type but probably about 10 to 12 years old and there is a deal available for new combi plus 7 radiators plus 7 years parts and labour guarantee for just under £1100 so I will probably go for this.

Building Regs officer is calling on Wednesday to discuss the attic conversion but I think it may not be possible.
As I understand it, the height restrictions (2.2m) have been removed from the regs. Anyone know if this is correct??
The problem as I understand it is that the staircase must exit from the attic down to the front door without going through the lounge (ie a controlled stairwell).
My stairs go from the lounge to the landing and then through a fire door to the attic. How does this look??

The lounge has solid oak flooring - stuck down with mastic! The under floor has no screed and no waterproof membrane and no insulation. Oh well, what did I expect!

I think the house has a cellar. When I went into the understairs cupboard there are floorboards under the Marley type floor covering. The rest of the house has concrete floors. A bit of investigation I think. All the floor covering is going anyway so no problem.

Helibars have arrived along with the grout and tools. Brictor has arrived. Pointing applicator has arrived. Electricity and gas and water are sorted.

This made me smile ....
I arrived at the house and the inner flap on the letterbox was screwed shut. I unscrewed it and 10 minutes later the postman delivered my first letter (honestly). It was from the TV Licencing threatening me with a £1000 fine for not having a licence at that address. They do not waste time do they??

Any comments on the above would be appreciated as they are my initial thoughts and I aim to make as few mistakes as I can - I know there will be many.
My other half already refers to the house as 'The house that Jack built' and judging by the amateur attempts at hiding things I tend to agree.

Thanks
Ricky

 

[Flyfisher]

Exciting times Ricky, and it seems like you've hit the ground running.

Just a couple of comments. Regarding an attic conversion, a friend recently did a similar thing and her stairs come down into the middle of the house. To comply with building regs she had to have the stairs closed off with a fire door. I don't really know the details except that it was possible with the fire door provision, so I wouldn't give up just yet if you really want an attic room.

Of course, a fire door is not entirely convenient and my friend keeps it propped open (it has to be self-closing) but at least it meant the work was signed off. I suspect this sort of thing happens all the time.

That heating deal sounds almost too good to be true. You couldn't buy the parts for £1100! Is it some sort of 'green deal' thing?

As for TVL, we had a similar experience and as we don't have a TV I just ignored them and the letters became ever more threatening, which is outrageously really, but they never did send anyone to check even though they threatened us with a visit from their 'enforcement division'. I had a similar experience at our previous house but wrote to them stating I didn't need a licence and they replied saying that they wouldn't pester me for another two years but might write to me then to re-confirm my situation. They obviously don't work on the 'innocent until proved guilty' principle!

 

[plasticpigeon]

Sounds like you have a lot to do. People seem to leave chimneys hanging a lot. It seems that people think it is ok to cantilever a metal shelf from a wall to support a stack, but I wouldn't be happy with that. I think rebuilding it is best, but it would be a shame not to make an opening, you could put a cooker or bookcase in there.

Why don't you reinstate the hallway wall, and change the stairs so they don't turn into the lounge but go straight. That way the upper staircase only goes to the hall and the loft stairs then satisfy regs and you can return the house back to its former layout. I'm sure a blockwork wall would be quick and cheap!!!