Crack stitiching with helibars need advice Re-generate an old or tired space and give it a fresh breath of life. Click here for answers, information and tips

[Bex_n]

Hi

I am new to all of this so any help with be gratefully recieved.

I have just bought my first house. I fell in love with the property but have since found that it needs far more work than I ever imagined. I am not skilled in diy so need lots of advice from knowledgable people.

Now to get to the question. We knew the bay window had some cracks and the surveyor said it was common because of how they are built on old houses before we purchasrd. He said to have helibars installed and that would help give it strength etc but it wasn't a big issue. One we had bought it we then removed wallpaper in the living room and on the internal wall that separates the living room and dining room there was a crack from floor to ceiling in the corner where the wall joins a short wall on an angle. This made me full on panic. We got a structural engineer to look and he said it was historical movement and we might want to have helibars installed to give the wall more strength.

Questions
Would supports be needed to be put in place whilst the helibars are installed? My logic is if they are drilling out stuff to insert the bars doesn't that make the wall likely to move more or drop.

Can any good builder do this or is it the sort of job that needs a specialist? I am worried it could make things worse.

How much should this be costing (ball park). A builder came to look at lots of work we wanted doing he said about 500 for the crack stitching. I contacted a company that said they specialise in this. They asked for the structural report and said they had spoken to the structural engineer and without going to the property quoted £2500 plus vat.

Sorry for the long post. Any ideas, thoughts would be great.

Becky

[stoneyboy]

Hi bex_n
Where there is access to both sides of a cracked wall raking out both sides can be done without compromising the integrity of the wall. For this to be done plaster will have to be removed and made good again once the stitching has been done.
Your builder price is probably a bit light so if you go for this expect a bit of an increase due to unforeseen problems.
The cost of the same works will vary depending on where you are located.
Regards S

[Bex_n]

Hi

Thanks for the reply. You said the builder price is probably a bit low so expect it to go up some, which I totally understand as things always crop up when you start work. Does this mean the company that specialises in crack stitching charging 2500 plus vat is way too high? We are in Southampton and both companies are local to us.

Thank you again for replying it is much appreciated.

Becky

[stoneyboy]

Hi bex_n
From your description you are looking at one floor to ceiling crack in one wall. £3000 to repair this one crack is a lot of money. Suggest you see if you can find another contractor and get a third price.
Regards S