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Thread: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

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    Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    Hey all,

    So my family is trying to buy a house, very big, and it's like nothing we have ever seen, like a manor house, of course there are a few downsides that need addressing i.e. a new sewage system needs installing, new roof etc - Property has been empty for a few years so it needs a lot of work done to it outside.

    Now there is 2 acres of land with it, at two different levels. You have land that is the same level as the house, and then further away you have land that is 20ft - 30ft lower than the land above. Where these two seperate peices connect the land above is basically falling away from it's original place because the wall that used to "hold" the land above was old and has broken away so nothing has been there to support all the soil.

    The tennis court is basically a half tennis court now because the land has sunk, and bad thing is, the swimming pool is right next to the sinking land, 10ft away from it. So not good at all from my point of view anyway.

    Now what my Dad has said is all you need to do is get someone to inject the land above with "something" and then build a new huge wall (with foundation) where the old one used to be and fill in the gaps to support it all.

    I don't know, but to me, it just doesnt sound right at all, sounds too easy for my liking, but I've never heard or seen anything like this before.

    So who do we approach for something like this? Is there a "top" company for something like this? Or can we just use a builder and some scaffolding to do the job? - And does anyone on the forums know anything about this i.e. price wise.

    Of course, if someone states something on here I will always ask expert advice externally, but it would be interesting to hear someone elses take on it if they know anything regarding something like this!.



    TIA
    Last edited by SammEl; 21-02-2010 at 01:35 AM.

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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    Manor house, swimming pool and acres of land eh........good job you didn't post in the £100K+ earners thread or you would have been villified...........seems to me you need to go into Politics (party unimportant) and get that moat, portcullis, "Gardening" and Duckhouse on expenses!!

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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    Quote Originally Posted by Dingo View Post
    Manor house, swimming pool and acres of land eh........good job you didn't post in the £100K+ earners thread or you would have been villified...........seems to me you need to go into Politics (party unimportant) and get that moat, portcullis, "Gardening" and Duckhouse on expenses!!
    Well when you are 70 years of age and have been working all your life in business and still are (my Dad) - It's not so far fetched.

    As for the £100k earners thread - My opinion? You can get paid whatever a company thinks you are worth (normally if you are earning millions a year, there is a huge chance that is pennies for the place you are working for i.e. their turnover) - Or if you own the company, pay yourself whatever you feel you want to.

    Money in the "business" and "banking" world is not how the everyday person sees money, the majority of the UK will spend £100 tops in a restuarant on the weekend, but they can spend £50K+ and wipe their ass with another £50k in the VIP Lounges toilet.

    Think John Terry earns a lot? Think again. He is small fish.

    Same to Bill Gates - Richest man in the world? Heh, he is a peasant in the Middle East.

    Anyway, back on topic.
    Last edited by SammEl; 21-02-2010 at 07:56 AM.

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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    Bill gates isn't a peasent anywhere.
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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    Well subsidence is a very difficult thing, you want to get expert advice, do the job poorly, the issue comes back in a few years time.

    You also by law have to tell anyone you sell it to the problems.

    You might find this is why the property is so cheap.
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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    Quote Originally Posted by SammEl View Post
    Now what my Dad has said is all you need to do is get someone to inject the land above with "something" and then build a new huge wall (with foundation) where the old one used to be and fill in the gaps to support it all.
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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    Quote Originally Posted by SammEl View Post
    Same to Bill Gates - Richest man in the world? Heh, he is a peasant in the Middle East.
    Erm... not really

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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    You need to get expert civil engineering advice - preferably a consultancy with expertise in geo-stabilisation.

    I doubt it will be a trivial task to sort out - rep[lacing the wall may be the start of it, but there is drainage and a number of other things to consider. You may end up with a series of stabilising walls to contain the land that has not (yet) subsided.

    Start looking through civil engineering practices, get some quotes, and examine there previous work/clients carefully - and be prepared to dig deep, bith into the land and into your pocket.
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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    Quote Originally Posted by peterb View Post
    You need to get expert civil engineering advice - preferably a consultancy with expertise in geo-stabilisation.

    I doubt it will be a trivial task to sort out - rep[lacing the wall may be the start of it, but there is drainage and a number of other things to consider. You may end up with a series of stabilising walls to contain the land that has not (yet) subsided.

    Start looking through civil engineering practices, get some quotes, and examine there previous work/clients carefully - and be prepared to dig deep, bith into the land and into your pocket.
    This.

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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    Quote Originally Posted by Salazaar View Post
    This.

    Get a civil engineer in, don't just leave it to a builder.
    +1 get professional advice.
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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    Quote Originally Posted by TheAnimus View Post
    Well subsidence is a very difficult thing, you want to get expert advice, do the job poorly, the issue comes back in a few years time.

    You also by law have to tell anyone you sell it to the problems.

    You might find this is why the property is so cheap.
    We don't plan on selling the property, it's not a buy now sell later purchase, I think anyone in their right mind is crazy to sell it. Which is why it's been owned by the same family for over 100 years and was only sold because the bloodline of that family ran out. When it was sold I'm guessing there was A LOT of antiques and valuable items in the house - But the person who has owned it for the last 6-7 years had the property repossessed so before the repossession they cleared it (not the bailiffs, the owner) - Luckily it's Grade II otherwise they would of ripped out the fireplaces too.

    It's cheap because it's a repossession , AND the fact money needs to be spent (guessing £50k) and atm, not many people want to buy a property and spend money making it normal, around this price figure, people want to buy to move in. I think if it was MORE expensive, there would be more interest from people searching for very expensive houses, therefore have money to spend.

    We could ignore this problem, as it's far away from the house, but we'd end up losing land and a swimming pool in the long run.

    Quote Originally Posted by peterb View Post
    You need to get expert civil engineering advice - preferably a consultancy with expertise in geo-stabilisation.

    I doubt it will be a trivial task to sort out - rep[lacing the wall may be the start of it, but there is drainage and a number of other things to consider. You may end up with a series of stabilising walls to contain the land that has not (yet) subsided.

    Start looking through civil engineering practices, get some quotes, and examine there previous work/clients carefully - and be prepared to dig deep, bith into the land and into your pocket.
    Do you have a rough idea, or is it something you cannot put a price on?

    We had a rough estimation of around £10k - £15k - Or is it going to be stupid money to sort out?

    Of course we will get expert advice, but I like to see if anyone else has had it done etc.

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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    Quote Originally Posted by SammEl View Post
    Do you have a rough idea, or is it something you cannot put a price on?

    We had a rough estimation of around £10k - £15k - Or is it going to be stupid money to sort out?

    Of course we will get expert advice, but I like to see if anyone else has had it done etc.
    My experience of this kind of thing is limited to what I've seen on Grand Designs

    I think you'll find quotes for this kind of thing can vary wildly because until they start doing the full surveys it is just finger in the air estimates. Any kind of ground works can, and often do, spiral in cost.

    It does sound like it is completely worth it though

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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    My grandparents where unlucky and developed this after some water pipe leak and construction.

    This created problems which ran into about 40% of the value of the property.

    Remember the market generally prices things low for a reason. If your unable to get someone who is a real wizz to say how much it will cost, and underwrite the costs, make sure you've plenty of cash handy.

    If the property is in a bad state, you've already spent £100k, and its only worht 300K in broken state, you will find the banks reluctant to lend you another 10k, even if that was all it would take to finish the works.
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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    Yup, +1 on the Grand Designs front - it usually costs 50% more than the initial estimate on the ones I've seen..

    One of them was a barn conversion with an extension, but the ground with prone to land-slip and had to be rectified before the work could continue - they had to have concrete & steels driven into the ground to stabilise the footings, and it was iirc around the £60,000 mark...
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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

    Thanks for the input.

    If we do manage to buy the house, then if all the work is done to it, within 5 years it will be worth near the £1m mark - So even spending £150k on the house is worth it in the long run.

    My parents have been in the property business for many many years, and have never come across a house like this in the area we live in, it is extremely rare to find a house with rooms this size and ceilings over twice the height of normal house ceilings. And the land with a brooke and swimming pool and a possibility of a tennis court is an added extra.

    So £60k huh? That sounds like a huge project, I'm guessing it was made to support a building on top of it etc.

    If it turns into a £100k project, we will just leave it for the time being if we move into the place - It is possible and is nor urgent as it's not affecting any building etc.

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    Re: Stabilizing Land that is sinking - Anyone know anything about this?

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