Potential bressimer damage query

[maria_6]

Hi everyone,

We’re looking to purchase our first home and would really appreciate some advice on something that was picked up on the level 3 survey.

From the exterior of the property, there is some cracking on either end of the lintel and you can see some deformation in the brickwork. Our surveyor suspected the original wooden bressimer might still be in place and may be at risk of rotting. There’s no bay roof in place anymore. Internally, he couldn’t spot any signs of damage.

Has anyone dealt with something similar before? We’re looking at getting a structural engineer to have a look but so far quotes have been over 1k so we’d be interested to see how much any potential remedial work may cost so we know it’s worth proceeding with the further inspection.

We’d be really keen to hear any thoughts on how concerning this is!

Many thanks all

 

[a twig]

Sorry, what do you mean there is no bay roof in place anymore?

 

[malcolm]

Could you post a full size photo? It's tricky to see what is going on with that. A second photo of the house together with it's neighbours would be good to judge age and modifications. There is something funny going on to the right of the bricks on end as if the opening has been widened.

 

[a twig]

Difficult to see much from the picture but does look like that opening isn’t properly supported, easiest solution would probably be putting a catnic in, pretty straightforward job probably between £1k - £1.5k I’d expect.

I’d be wary of getting a structural engineer as most are so terrified of being sued it all gets over-engineered so you’d probably end up being recommended some huge and expensive steel goalpost solution

 

[maria_6]

Could you post a full size photo? It's tricky to see what is going on with that. A second photo of the house together with it's neighbours would be good to judge age and modifications. There is something funny going on to the right of the bricks on end as if the opening has been widened.

Thank you very much for your response! I’ve popped a couple of photos from the surveyors report. The house next door to ours doesn’t have a bay window, however I’ve added a photo of another house that has essentially the same structure as ours on the road. It’s a bit tricky to see what’s going on as all the other houses on the road have the bay roof.

 

[maria_6]

Sorry, what do you mean there is no bay roof in place anymore?

I’m attaching a photo of a house on our street with the structure above the bay, they all seem to have this (about 10 houses) minus two (including ours)

 

[maria_6]

Difficult to see much from the picture but does look like that opening isn’t properly supported, easiest solution would probably be putting a catnic in, pretty straightforward job probably between £1k - £1.5k I’d expect.

I’d be wary of getting a structural engineer as most are so terrified of being sued it all gets over-engineered so you’d probably end up being recommended some huge and expensive steel goalpost solution

Thank you, this is incredibly helpful!

 

[stuart45]

It looks to me like the original bay window was replaced with a bow window, but the bressummer beam was left in. The brickwork above had deflected with the beam, so when the old brickwork was taken out and the new built up it had to follow the beam. That's why the brick on edge ends up as 2 courses at the ends. As face work goes it's a bit of a bodge.

 

[malcolm]

That makes more sense. Though the house with the 'original' bay also looks modified - there wouldn't originally have been a rendered area either side of the bay roof. Probably the original lintel would have been wood and will have deformed a bit. Maybe the house with the 'original' bay someone stuck a more modern lintel in.

Deformed wood lintels aren't necessarily bad. I've got some really badly specified wooden lintels and the house hasn't fallen down yet. They do sag a bit. When they rot it tended to be at the ends where water has got in due to bad bay window roofing and the damp and plaster falling off provided clues to what was happening. I repaired the ends of one of mine with a bit of steel bolted on and also fixed the leaky bay roof.

For yours the bricks on edge over the window won't be original - there would have been no need for decorative detail hidden behind a bay window roof. The bricks are a good match though. Looks like cement re-pointing above and that will crack to show any movement that's happened since whatever was done.

If the modifications were done years ago and if there aren't any cracks I wouldn't be too worried. There is certainly poor quality work with the random red brick on the right and I can't think why that would be there.

 

[maria_6]

It looks to me like the original bay window was replaced with a bow window, but the bressummer beam was left in. The brickwork above had deflected with the beam, so when the old brickwork was taken out and the new built up it had to follow the beam. That's why the brick on edge ends up as 2 courses at the ends. As face work goes it's a bit of a bodge.

Thank you very much, this is really helpful!

 

[maria_6]

That makes more sense. Though the house with the 'original' bay also looks modified - there wouldn't originally have been a rendered area either side of the bay roof. Probably the original lintel would have been wood and will have deformed a bit. Maybe the house with the 'original' bay someone stuck a more modern lintel in.

Deformed wood lintels aren't necessarily bad. I've got some really badly specified wooden lintels and the house hasn't fallen down yet. They do sag a bit. When they rot it tended to be at the ends where water has got in due to bad bay window roofing and the damp and plaster falling off provided clues to what was happening. I repaired the ends of one of mine with a bit of steel bolted on and also fixed the leaky bay roof.

For yours the bricks on edge over the window won't be original - there would have been no need for decorative detail hidden behind a bay window roof. The bricks are a good match though. Looks like cement re-pointing above and that will crack to show any movement that's happened since whatever was done.

If the modifications were done years ago and if there aren't any cracks I wouldn't be too worried. There is certainly poor quality work with the random red brick on the right and I can't think why that would be there.

Thank you for your detailed response, we really appreciate it! This is incredibly helpful.