Quick sand

OK, it's more likely to be quick clay except that is taken by a variety of clay that is thixotropic. Anyway...

When I lived in Abergele, the flood there in the 1990's caused a similar amount of damage as is mirrored in a lot of England at the moment. The insurance companies sent loss adjusters in as soon as possible with the brief to settle claims as quickly as possible no matter how high they were.

No quibbling.

It turned out that the claims, however high were still less than the real damage which the householders would have signed off from .....with a different settlement.

The housing in the area was built on sand. I still is. And water coming up out of the ground, which it did every high tide once the sea wall broke, was causing the substrata to turn into quicksand.

On clay, the substrate will rise unless it is broken through. In which case it will not rise evenly. In fact on any sedimentary substrate there is every likelihood that there will be some sort of subsidence with the aftermath of this flooding.

So if you are affected and have insurance, be careful what you sign. You might care to let others think about it. I am not suggesting any chain letters. I might even be wrong.

I doubt I am though, sadly. A hell of a lot of modern housing is built on flood plains in the UK so the foundations are likely to be concrete slab rafts on clay.

Reply to
Weatherlawyer
Loading thread data ...

Something that might have been cobbled together to take advantage of the situation is a programme scheduled for 8 pm on Monday on Channel

  1. Dispatches. Britain's Bad Housing:

Reporter Andrew Gilligan investigates the role of private house builders in Britain's chronic housing shortage.

formatting link

Reply to
Weatherlawyer

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.