If you’ve recently bought a house or have received your home buyers report and are being told your house has subsidence, it can be a cause for concern.
When the ground beneath your property’s foundation moves, it causes subsidence. This means parts of the property is sinking, and potentially creating cracks in its structure. The main symptom of subsidence is cracks, and you are likely to find these around windows, doors and other weak points.
It is important to understand that not all cracks in your home will be caused by subsidence. If you see cracks in your home, particularly those around windows and doors, it is wise to get them looked at by a professional. Subsidence can make it difficult to get home insurance and can require expensive corrective treatment, like underpinning. A professional will be able to help you correct any issues in the best way possible.
Leaking drains can cause subsidence and is one of the most common sources. Drains are designed to take water into the ground beneath your property, so any leaks in your drainage pipes will send water into the areas you don’t want it to be- underneath your home. The water will then act on the soil, either washing it away, softening it or weakening it, thus causing movement in the foundations above it. Areas with sandy soil will experience an even bigger problem as it is more prone to being washed away or weakened when compared to other soils, like clay.
When subsidence occurs, the movement is uneven. This means you will have one part of your property sinking away from another, which causes the cracks. If a professional has diagnosed subsidence within your property, it’s important to get a CCTV drain survey conducted, preferably checking every pipe, even if they seem inaccessible. If the CCTV drain survey comes back and tells you leaking drains are the cause of subsidence within your home, you’ll need to have repairs made to the pipes before you can take any action on the property damage. If you fix the property damage before the leaking pipes, the subsidence cracks are likely to reoccur.
Even after repairs have been made to your drains, you should monitor them to ensure the repairs have been successful and that the problem of leaking and subsidence has been resolved.
At We Love Drains, we can conduct full CCTV drain inspections, surveys and drain repairs. If you’re experiencing subsidence in your home because of leaking drains, we’d be happy to find the problem and offer a solution suited to you. For more information, or simply to discuss matters further with a member of our team, get in touch today by calling 0800 849 8099 or via our contact page.
