Hi,
My house is set back from the road about 20 ft and elevated by about
10ft. A car bay has been cut into the frontage described above. The gas supply for the house comes from the main road and runs under the car bay. When it reaches the back wall of the bay it rises out of the ground, follows the wall up about 7 foot and then disappears into the retaining wall before emerging inside of the house./ \ /_____\ | | |House | |______|__ |_Gas | |_____ Car bay
The retaining wall in front of the house/back of car bay has a crack running top to bottom. When I bought the house a year ago the crack was hairline, now its about quarter to half inch wide. Part of the wall also wobbles.
I have two questions:
- Should I be worried about this movement with regards the gas pipe? Could it cause a leak? If so, who do I contact about turning the gas off and relaying a new pipe if I build a new retaining wall? Will the gas board ( or who ever ) charge for laying a new pipe?
- Should I be worried about the movement in the wall with regards the house itself? There is no evidence of cracks inside and most of the houses in the terrace have dug out their car bays too - many far closer to the house than ours. Would you recommend getting a structural surveyor out?
Many thanks in advance.