Bowing walls & Lateral restraint.
Is your property affected by Bowing walls & Lateral restraint problems?
London Structural Repairs are regularly asked to deal with Bowing Walls & Lateral Restraint problems which can cause severe structural damage including separated walls, cracked masonry, damage to stair cases and internal plasterwork and fittings
Bowing walls outward movement in most cases is due to insufficient lateral restraint, tying of the wall to the ceiling and floor joists. Without these lateral restraint ties the building is vulnerable and with the continued outward movement the building is at risk of collapsing and causing serious injury to people and expensive damage to your property.
Why not give our professionals a call, we are here to help!
What is the reason behind a Bowing wall
Bowing Walls & Lateral Restraint problems are common on victorian and Edwardian properties as building practices were a lot different to modern day practices which insure that a building has sufficient lateral restraint.
There are many buildings where the walls are in danger of moving or collapse because of inadequate lateral restraint of the wall to floor joists, ceiling joists or roof structure.The problem can be caused by one or a combination of factors. such as:
- Re-roofing using heavier materials such as the removal of slate tiles and replacing them with modern concrete tiles would give increased vertical loads which could exceed the load-carrying capacity of the wall and when wet the concrete tiles hold water and increase there weight.
- The omission of lateral restraints or their failure in service can magnify the effects of other contributory causes.
- Decrease of wall stiffness and resistance to buckling and wind loading, can occur, with wall tie corrosion or insufficient wall ties installed during construction.
- Addition of new storeys to property.
- Walls too high for their thickness.
- Vibration from road traffic or building works locally.
- Increased weight loads to floors.
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What is the solution to the problem.
At London Structural Repairs we use Helifix and Thor Remedial lateral restraint ties to tie into the floor joists and partition walls to help stabilise the main wall. The remedial systems we use In most cases we are able to do this with a lateral restraint tie which is quick and easy to install without any major disruption to our clients with only the need to lift a few floor boards, unlike the old method of having to remove skirting boards and screw restraint straps down to the floor joists causing unnecessary disruption to the client and is therefore unsatisfactory.
If your property is suffering from bowing walls & Lateral restraint problems then why not give us a call 020 8936 7699 or email so we can help.
