What are the effects of settlement? | How can I deal with settlement? | Back to settlement
Settlement for most householders is usually experienced after an extension has been built. Once a structure has been built, some settlement can be expected, depending on the type of soil, the foundation design, etc. Before an extension is built you can decide to:-
tolerate the differential settlement and repair occasionally, but this is not reccomended,
ask to have the foundations designed so the new extension moves only a little i.e. to design it to move differentially but marginally,
ask to have the foundation designed on piled foundations.
The piled foundation arrangement tolerates much less vertical movement and can be designed to minimise the risk of future subsidence. However, it may cost more, but if the alternative is a considerable amount of excavation with the soil being carried through your house, a piled solution with piles driven into the ground displacing the soil, may have other advantages. Screw piles have similar advantages, except that the operatives can determine the ultimate load bearing capacity by measuring the input torque.
If you have an extension suffering from settlement, we recommend you give us a call to check if you have subsidence or settlement and also to work out the best solution, which can be underpinning. If your house is close to a river, you may have tertiary consolidation (for consolidation read "settlement") but insurance policies are usually worded to define it as subsidence.