Cavity Walls Ties

[ms_laylay]

My house was built in 1926, a recent survey has said that the cavity wall ties need replacing but a lot of people have said that during this period the cavities were filled by cement. Do you think I'm being conned or should I just trust the guy who did the survey?

[JK04]

probably should trust him cus if he's a chartered surveyer who did it, he wont have any gain from what work that needs to be done,

[ms_laylay]

He wasn't a chartered surveyor but a 'wall tie specialist', couldn't anyone say they were a specialist?

[raysparx1]

If your was that early it could well be a solid wall,test it yourself, drill a hole if it goes in about 4-5 inches then hits a void it is cavity if it is solid it will keep drilling, if you have a loose brick anywhere remove it and look for yourself, if in any doubt ask a local builder, good luck, Ray

[samsong7]

This is a question that pops up every few years, particularly when the property is a council house or a tied house, such as in mining villages.When the Coal Board sold off the houses around Nottinghamshire a few people were told that the ties could be rusting and would need replacing. These people refused to pay out for the ties to be changed, but they still got the mortgage for the property. I think its a money making racket.How would anyone know, without smashing a hole into the wall, if the ties were rusting?I would ask the neighbours if they needed any changing before agreeing with the Specialist, as all the houses would have been built at the same time

[raysparx1]

I have just phoned a mate of mine who is a brickie and he told me cavity walls were introduced about 1930, so as I said before I would think yours is a solid wall. ask a local builder to confirm, Ray

[jake-the-peg]

Identifying cavity walls:

http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/default.aspx?pa ge=22399

There are a lot of scams out there although there are problems too. Wall ties before 1930 were not galvanised I believe.

Aparently typical signs of failure are horizontal cracking of mortar about every 6 rows (iewhere the ties are). Obviously bulging walls too but if you had that I doubt you'd be asking.

I'd guess your survey probably just entails him knowing that there are houses in the area with the problem. If you've cavity walls then you'll likely get the problem at some stage so he probably doesn't see it as a scam - you might disagree!

I used to own a 20's council built semi detatched houseone of many on an estate solid walls as evidenced by the condensation. This didn't stop someone paying for Cavity wall insulation to be put it. They got a nice neet little set of holes drilled and filled with foam!

[terence7556]

my house is 50 years old, privately built. (the point of that is that you dont have a clerk of works checking everything thats done on behalf on the client and the eventual owners.) it was extended 30 years ago and the other builders relied on 'toothing' to join the old bricks to the new. every where the new joins the old is a crack in the mortar with different coloured mortar from either side and inside the house the plaster is cracked. in one room i bit the bullet and tookoff the plaster, knocked out the thermolite blocks and replaced them with new ones taking theoppertunity to tie the walls together with hippo ties.(a physical metal join in the mortar bed rather than relying on toothing and whilst the inner wall was exposed for an area of 2 mteres by 1 metre i could see the original butterfly ties which were as good as the day they were fitted.sorry about the length of reply but i want to make a point about how good the materials are and how bad the bricklayers are.
i work in the construction industry and my advice is not to forget the phrase i hear every day "you wont see it from my house"
get a second and third opinion and if poss get another from someone you know or trust

[ms_laylay]

Thanks everyone, we are going to get an independent surveyor in, we have done a lot of research and as far as we can see we have no evidence of wall tie corrosion or damp!!
Fingers crossed!