problem with next doors builders and garage walls

Hi all, The house next door is being extended and as part of that work our "semidetached" garage which we re-did about 5 years ago in breeze block and tiles was undetached from their horrible falling down asbestos garage.

Next doors owners want to cut the pillars which support the breezeblock walls back to flush with the outside of our garage (there are 4 pillars about 6ft apart along the outside wall of our garage so the inside of our garage has flush walls).

I believe that cutting these pillars will weaken the wall structure and make the garage fall down. If we extend pillars on the inside of our garage (Which wouldn't be as strong as the foundations weren't built to accommodate this) we won't be able to get the car in the garage and be able to open the doors to get out of the car.

Is there any other way of supporting a single breezeblock wall of 20 feet (5 mtrs) if these double thickness pillars are removed.? It's London Clay soil if that makes any difference.

I need a quick answer on this as I need to persuade him he can't do this in the morning.

Fortunately we neglected to sign any party wall agreement with him so we haven't technically agreed to anything but the removal of his part of the garage structure.

dedics

Reply to
Ian & Hilda Dedic
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Ian & Hilda Dedic gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

It's quite simple. Unless and until his architect can show you structural calculations to prove that it won't, then all bets are off.

Reply to
Adrian

Thanks for that, I was hoping to have some alternative suggestions for construction, so that I appeared halfway reasonable, but as it is our existing structure, even if the pillars are over the boundary (which they might be by about 2 inches) although they were holding up his ramshackle garage originally I'm assuming he can't touch it without our express say so.

He has offered to get his builders to screed and paint the part of the garage wall which was inside their old garage,and is now therefore outside, for us so I don't want to get into a big dispute with him but I don't want to presented with a fait accompli and therefore unstable garage when I get home tomorrow.

I am right in thinking that pillars in a single breezeblock wall every

6ft or so to support a tiled pitched roof is not over engineered?

dedics

Reply to
Ian & Hilda Dedic

They aren't there to support the roof, a single brick thickness will do it with ease as it does so on many houses. They are there to stop lateral loads toppling the wall. I don't see how this could happen if the wall is tied to the house by the roof, that does depend on how the roof is constructed and there are no details here.

Reply to
dennis

Preventing him to hacking you garage about *is* being reasonable.

Ahh that might complicate things, how long has it been there, and did you have permission for it to extend there?

I think the solicitor idea might be closer to the mark.

The pillars are probably not so much to support the roof, but the make the garage wall itself more rigid, just like piers on any other long/tall wall.

Reply to
Andy Burns

No it's a completely free standing garage now!

it was semidetached to nextdoors ramshackle garage and the planners wouldn't let us build a wall across the front to tie our garage to the house to the house when we applied for planning several years back, there's a painted marine ply board across the gate to the garden.

the set up was

2 semi houses|____|2 semi garages|____|2 semi houses

and now

2 semi houses|____|our freestanding garage|__|2 semi houses

The tiled roof is supported on rafters across two single breeze block walls and slopes from the boundary line downwards towards our house. Hope this explains a bit better

dedics

Reply to
Ian & Hilda Dedic

How could you possibly _know_ that? I'm not being rude - this is a really important question.

Other than confirmation that you shouldn't let them touch your garage, this isn't something best answered in a DIY forum. However, there's an excellent "garden law" forum which might help greatly...

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by reading the threads and discussions about what is a boundary, and what defines it. You might be surprised. As others have said, try to understand the implications of the party wall act. Also check what (if anything) it says in your deeds.

You don't want a boundary dispute, and you don't want to fall out with your neighbour, but you don't want your garage putting at risk either.

More importantly you don't want your neighbours extension doing more harm than it's allowed to. Check planning permission, foundations, etc.

Good luck!

Cheers, David.

Reply to
David Robinson

Thanks for the info, we seem to have got the message across to the builders, so all is now well. It's useful stuff about the boundary , and presumed ownership.

I assumed that since we had built our new garage wall entirely along our side of the old boundary wall with just a few pillare sticking out where needed these might concievably be over the line by an inch or two, but all is well now, discussion seemed to do the trick.

thanks to all who contributed.

dedics

Reply to
Ian & Hilda Dedic

The ends of the wall where they turn in will provide some stability assuming they exist and are tied into the wall. I don't recall what length of wall is allowed before you need intermediate piers. You need an expert to check the construction to see if they can be removed or to see if the wall needs stiffening before its done.

Reply to
dennis

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