Substruck Ltd was employed to complete a prescribed set of investigative works from a consulting engineer in order to determine the cause of subsidence on a property in Dublin 8. We complete this type of work all over Ireland on a regular basis.
The insured became concerned when a door continued to stick despite a series of adjustments over time whilst cracks continued to manifest themselves after repairs and decoration. The rear elevation was noted to be out of plumb by 1-2°.
An old vitreous clay combined drain ran through the property and the insured understood that this had been fully re-lined by a previous contractor some time back. However, despite subsequent requests, the contractor would not provide a certificate of completion. Unfortunately, the CCTV survey proved that the drain was only repaired locally with a patch repair no more than one metre in length rendering the remaining system in its original condition. The drain was found to be in poor condition with water holding over nearly the full length of the drain beneath the building.
A trial hole identified a stone foundation founded at 0.82m, typical of 1800s Victorian construction. The dynamic probe results identified poor ground at formation level and one metre beyond.
Considering the ground conditions and superstructure damage, it was reasonable to suggest that the rear elevation of the property was in fact subsiding. The leaking drain was determined to be the cause of this movement.
On completion, a full report was provided to the consulting engineer and the claim was successful.