Posts Tagged ‘Climate Change’

The attached recommendation for my services comes from a client couple who were at their wits end. Their home had flooded and was liable to do so again if “the Authorities” would not let them drain ground and surface water into a foul sewer in the public road outside their home. After a very long time of negotiation that had got them nowhere I was called in to help.

It is with great pride and satisfaction that I report my services engineered a structured solution after fighting tooth-and-nail for common sense to override Regulations. My clients were delighted.

This case revolved around the urbanisation of land that then floods due to the water table having risen due to so much house building closeby. This scenario will no doubt repeat itself all across our green and pleasant land as climate change bites. Homeowners are recommended to not be fobbed off by officialdom.

TESTIMONIAL FOR DRAINAGE & RELATED WORK BY STUART PARRETT FRICS

I recommend that you use Stuart Parrett to provide professional services for securing permission to install or improve drainage in residential properties.

 

Work carried out by Stuart in 2010 and 2011 advised us on the improvements needed to prevent our property getting flooded. This was in 2 phases. Firstly, he persuaded the local authorities who were responsible for drainage (principally Hampshire CC, but also Winchester CC and Swanmore Parish Council) to agree to connecting our pipes into their drainage systems. Initially they were highly resistant to doing this.

 

Secondly he drew up the development of drainage improvements, selected a very good contractor (Metro Rod) and oversaw their work, acting as an advocate for us.

 

Key features of Stuart’s work are:

 

• It is highly professional. Stuart has wide experience of taking action to promote high professional standards including through the courts
• Innovative – Stuart makes extensive use of IT systems to manage projects & for researching the best solutions
• Rapid learner: Stuart developed an understanding of council policies and systems very quickly
• Good at getting professionals from different organisations to align their policies and understanding where they are coming from
• Empathetic, understanding how stressful it can be for clients to have to cope with threats of flooding of their property
• Understanding of the ways that problems can interact e.g. seeing how work to improve drainage can have unexpected impacts on ground stability of nearby buildings
• Good at explaining complex aspects of civil engineering to clients and good at communicating
• Responsive and timely. Stuart is very good at ensuring projects keep on schedule
• Hard working: Stuart is willing to put in extra hours to deliver work on time.
• Good value for money.

 

April 2011

Worried about how flooding may affect your home?

FOR THE LATEST ADVICE BROCHURE FROM THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF CHARTERED SURVEYORS READ THIS FILE – “FLOOD ADVICE“

Flooding is not a new concept but is something that is increasing for three main reasons – (1) we are building more and more estates on flood plains (2) climate change, (3) the ignorance of home owners and occupiers.

In the good old days when it rained the surface water was carried away. When it rained the ground could cope with saturation. Home occupiers knew of the risks of flooding and had local solutions designed to cope with the extremes of the weather.

Nowadays we are not in control of these same factors to anything like the same degree. This means that we experience far higher risks of flooding.

Before I go on let’s bury one myth. If you check out the web for Environmental Risks it will grade your Post Code / Area according to historic data of actual flooding. But, flooding from what? The answer is flooding by waterways and the sea. These website databases do not analysis surface water risks other than from waterways and the sea.

If you live near the sea or a waterway this makes sense: occasionally banks burst and the resultant overflow floods the district as we see frequently on the media News to dramatic effect.

What is more difficult to understand is non-sea and non-waterways reasons for flooding.

THE BEGINNING – ASSESS THE MAIN RISKS – See the Environmental Agency Flood Maps and Advice data at
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods

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Football in the sun: but the clouds are gathering.

AN EXAMPLE:-

Picture the scene: one house in a very large field. The house is high up away from the sea or any waterways and lakes etc…… No flooding has been known to have occurred but the land was very wet at times.

Over the years one house became two became a thousand, became a city. The flood plain area used to soak up severe storm water and just about cope with the extremes. All the land soaked up a small amount of water.

Over the years the proportion of non-developed land got smaller and smaller until today hardly any land is free of development in some shape or form.

The result? In heavy rainfall conditions the storm sewers cannot cope and those small areas of free land cannot soak-up the excesses. The consequence is surge flows over previously “dry land” and “severe ponding” behind obstructions to those flows.

If your home is located within those areas “behind obstructions” then you will experience flooding. This can happen nearly anywhere.

In the south of Hampshire (my own County) we were (pre-Credit-Crunch) scheduled to build 80,000 homes before 2026. As much of the land earmarked for these homes is of clay form or within flood-plain district it is highly predictable that seasonal flooding will increase.

How should you react to these observations? This is difficult to outline unless I personalise my responses to specific homes. However, the answer is to either (1) ensure you have cast-iron Buildings Insurance that includes such risks and that an excessive “policy excess” sums for such damage do not exist OR (2) to not buy homes built in flood-plains, OR (3) make sure you invest in a range of anti-flood devices such as flood gates, one-way-drainage-valves, etc…

Insurance companies can be very mercenary nowadays and if they suddenly revoke your insurance cover you will have great difficultly in finding any company to accept your risks. On the other hand you may not have the choice to buy a home outside of the flood-plain districts.

Many people will not be able to exercise a choice and will have to live with the risks. Therefore the question becomes one of “what can I do to reduce flood risk?”.

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The following is taken from an article I put together a couple of years ago (2008) and is helpful here:-

Did you know (data taken from various internet sources)-

• 11% of English homes are at risk of some form of flooding (and with climate change this number is increasing daily).
• We are still building homes in natural flood plain districts.
• Insurance statistics show us that half a metre of flood-water causes £15,000 of damage in the average semi-detached home and £9,000 of that sum is uninsurable!
• The current normal range of Insurance payout cost for flood remediation works is £15 – £30,000 per home.
• Government policy is to build 3m new homes by 2020 and 1/3 of these will be within floodplains.

The new buzz words are “resistance” and “resilience” – in other words, reducing the amount of water that gets into your home and also reducing the damage that water causes.

What can you do to protect yourself? This depends on many factors, typically…….

1. Where are you buying?
2. What is the precise construction of that home?
3. How old is that home and when was it extended?
4. Proximity to sea, lakes and rivers plus altitude and topography?
5. What protects that home – how exposed is it?
6. Was it designed with flooding in mind?
7. Have multiple soft/permeable ground surfaces been hard landscaped?
8. Does it have a flooding history – have you asked?

When you are thinking of buying a home make enquiries, ask questions, drive around the district to pick up clues about water levels. Visit the Local Authority Planning and Building Control Departments and ask about your dream home.

When you have purchased “have a plan of self protection measures”! Sandbags, water diversion means/materials, how/who/went to transport of possessions/valuables to other out of town and higher altitude secure buildings, etc…..  However, initially we need to start designing with flooding in mind: so why aren’t we?

The slightly better news is that Government and the Insurance industry have at last signed up to a new protocol that ensures that flood damage insurance cover will not be withdrawn or otherwise not offered, BUT, only for homes built BEFORE 2009. If you are buying after this date then you need to clearly verify exactly how your Developer/Seller have minimised the potential of flood risk and how they have designed out much of the traditional potential damage that could be caused by water – this is up to you to activate and achieve and is not the duty of your solicitors, the seller or mortgage Valuer.

Longer term typical self-protection measures in existing housing could include:-

• Raising the height of power sockets
• Exterior Flood doors and lightweight, easily removable interior doors
• Stone or Ceramic tile ground floor form within a professional “tanking” system
• Waterproof cement plaster to lower areas
• Flood locking wall-base airbricks
• Marine varnish (multiple coats) skirtingboards on all faces and edges before fixing in place.
• Install screw-down (and well greased) drain inspection chamber covers.

On a more practical note – when you buy a home ask your Private Surveyor to comment on flood, ponding and surface water flow risks in relation to the land and building local characteristics.

Don’t forget that water damage can come in many differing forms: here is a selection of real problems diagnosed during real surveys completed by PROinspect:-

• Poor run-off design down a minor slope can cause havoc if the flood is directed into your garage!
• The lack of driveway edge kerbstones caused rainwater to enter wall-base airbricks and flood the underfloor void and eventually cause widespread floor decay!
• Conservatory added? About 30% of Builders forget to install rainwater outfall drains therefore massively increasing the risk of subsidence to both conservatory and main building.
• The removal of a front gate step (to insert a disabled person ramp access) caused road rainwater run-off to enter the house basement and flood two complete rooms!
• Over-extension of home: original rear rainwater downpipe redirected over an extensions flat roof from which a downpipe was redirected over a single storey extension flat roof that discharged over a conservatory roof – all into one normal capacity single downpipe!. Result, overfilling gutters ever time it rains, all made worse by the fact that the new conservatory downpipe was simply “stuck into the ground” without any drain outfall system attached.

One client said to us that his solicitor had commissioned an Environmental Risk Impact Report and that no flood risk had been identified. When we reported that his intended purchase was a poor flood risk he was confused and very angry! Why? Because he had not thought that flood damage can occur anywhere and is not restricted to floodplains in close proximity to the coast and rivers.

Have you noted the common strand running through these examples? Lack of knowledge; incompetent Contractors; ill-considered seller/occupier/landlord DIY.

Think about water flows, design for them, clearly monitor and then well maintain all aspects of drainage systems. Never underplay the power of water and running water.

Short term protection on your next purchase is to make sure you are not buying something that is in poor repair or has been improperly considered. Consider the impact of matters such as soft and damaged wall pointing, poor joinery paintwork, window and door frame edge gaps that are left open, the lack of water resistant wall paint systems applied up to 500mm over the potential flood water line, fixings used that are not of corrosion resistant materials (not mild steel) especially in relation to seawater flood risk areas, plasterboard wall linings and chipboard lower floorings not replaced with timber panels using WBP-bonded plywood and perhaps existing softwood floors that have not been preservative treated.

For services consider being proactive and …. raise the lower electrical ring main cabling to the upper floor level, use plaster conduits rather that burying cables within the wall plaster, use pipe insulation materials of the “closed cell” type that are not liable to water absorption, for drainage systems install non-return-valves and raise the height of all communication cables and equipment, etc…..

STOP – THINK – COMMISSION A PRIVATE SURVEY, or

at the very least, if you are involved in housing within the area covered by PROinspect, use the CONTACT FORM and ask my opinion now. I know the “bad” areas from experience and that knowledge might just prevent you form making a costly mistake.

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And finally …….

As each new district is afflicted with climate-flooding (a new term for non-sea and non-waterways flooding?) house values will be adversely affected as Insurers revoke cover and Mortgage Loan Companies restrict loan ratios: values will fall as demand falls and even if your home has not flooded.

Today I am involved with a home close to my home Town. This house is a detached Period structure that has never suffered from flooding in any capacity, shape or form. Suddenly the water table has risen significantly and since a £20,000 flood insurance claim last year their land has flooded several times but they have managed to keep water out of their home. At times the only method they could adopt was to illegally pump surface water into a roadside public gully.

My commission is to get the Insurers to cooperate and to pay for defence works before the house subsides: as it will do very soon as the high water table leaches fine material from under the house. In some respects my clients home is a crisis in the making.

Questions they will have to consider are:-

If they sold the home – what must they declare and what effect on value will those statements have on potential buyers.

If Insurers withdraw cover could they get any new cover? If not then what happens?: is the home un-buyable as Loan Companies will demand insurance!

“Between a rock and hard place” springs to mind!

Effect of Flooding on your home Value? – Read this research document from the RICS Foundation.

ARCHIVE ARTICLE EARLY 2009

TWO DIFFERING AREAS THAT ARE CLIMBING

THE ‘CONCERN” LADDER WITH INCREASING RAPIDITY

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Modern Roof Trusses (prefabricated timber roof frames):

Adapted from an article at this website – http://www.building.co.uk/

PROinspect comment that the status-quo surrounding your own home WHEN IT WAS DESIGNED AND BUILT does not now exist. Climate-change and other factors have impacted in a way that is only now becoming invasive. Does/did your roof design factor in current wind patterns and strengths, rainflow patterns/amounts, snow-loading, wind suction caused by new dwellings/trees now close to your home?

Building site storage conditions plus the degree of construction knowledge by (and supervision of) Installers are prime determinants of quality when considering roof condition and suitability.

Truss Manufacturers’ instructions must be strictly followed (and made available to site operatives). All bracing is to be fully installed and multiple truss connections completed as set out in manufacturers’ details.

All structural timbers should be stress graded and marked KD (kiln dry) or DRY. Timbers must be preservative treated in areas where House Longhorn Beetle is a problem (a problem that is “notifiable” to your Local Authority).

“Good Design” is codified and is demonstrated by finding “good detailing” such as the following:-

• Roof bracing should be twice nailed every truss.
• Diagonal bracing should be fixed at an angle of between 35° and 50° and fixed not only to the trusses but also to the wall plate. Overlaps should be carried over at least two trusses.
• Longitudinal bracing should be positioned tightly to abut separating and gable walls.
• Chevron bracing should be installed where the span of the roof exceeds 8 m.
• Seek confirmation from the roof designer that a trussed-rafter roof design can support water storage tanks. The use of bearer beams and supports fixed with moisture-resistant plywood or OSB sheet material used for the platform should form tanks stands. The tank bearers should be sited as close as possible to the node points and bear across a minimum of four trusses.
• Lateral restraint is needed on gable masonry. Lateral restraining straps and associated noggings must be fixed to roof truss rafters and ceiling cords at 2 m centres across three trusses. For cavity masonry, the straps should project and fit tightly on the outside face of the inner leaf of blockwork.

PROinspect have found that problems are often associated with condensation (often because of ill-advised “thermal” or “loft-conversion” improvements), DIY project “improvements” or where too much has been stored in the loft space.

Dry Rot and Wet Rot – a Surveyor nightmare?

Adapted from an article upon the website of the WOOD PROTECTION ASSOCIATION.

Dry rot and wet rot can affect buildings of all ages and if decay is discovered it should be identified and remedial action taken without delay. Such problems are often detected as soon as new home owners move-in because this is the first, and often the only, time when the home is empty of coverings, possessions and furniture. Often decay affects flooring that can spread behind plasterwork and other claddings, often undetected for many years.

An Owner “best defense” option is to annually inspect your home with a critical eye and to pro-actively maintain, paying close attention to the smaller details. The following notes may help you help yourself:-

Fungal decay occurs in timber that becomes wet for some time and is the result of the attack by one of a number of wood-destroying fungi. The most well known are Serpula lacrymans the True dry rot fungus; Coniophora puteana the Cellar fungus and Poria vaillantii the Pore or Mine fungus.

Many other fungi also occur and some have recently been particularly linked with decay in door and window frames.

Fungal decay always arises because the wood has become wet, about 20 per cent moisture content. This can be accelerated by limiting essential ventilation and creating dark/dank conditions.

Finding the source of dampness, eliminating the ingress of moisture and promoting drying is always necessary. However, the main problem facing those asked to investigate such matters is lack of adequate access to flooring – without clearly furniture and lifting fitted floor coverings Surveyors can easily miss signs of decay unless there is a strong trial of disturbance elsewhere such as springy flooring (when walked upon), wall dampness staining (disturbed plasterwork?), fruiting-bodies on closeby visible joinery etc…

Therefore the best defense potential buyers have is the service of an experienced Inspector. It is for this exact reason that PROinspect strongly advise buyers to separate Loan Valuations from Private Surveys to ensure YOU control what expertise is employed on your behalf.

Common Causes of Dampness in Buildings

The first step after discovering fungal decay is to make a careful inspection of the building to find how and where the water is entering. The defect permitting access of moisture must be treated and further entry prevented and the area dried out.

External Inspection – will an Inspector have free, uninterrupted access to all elements/areas?

The Roof

1. Blocked or misaligned gutters, especially in the hidden valleys of the roof.

2. Defective surfacing to valley gutters and flat roofs.

3. Missing, broken, displaced or loose tiles or slates.

4. Faulty flashings around chimneys and parapet walls.

The Walls

1. Excessive deterioration of mortar in brickwork joints.

2. Faulty or missing damp-proof course.

3. Bridging over the damp-proof course by soil in flower beds, plinths, etc.

4. Blocked air-bricks.

5. Cracked or broken pipes, both water-pipes and waste pipes.

6. Faulty flashing around window frames (inc. throats to cills).

7. Continued function of overflow from cisterns or water tanks.

Ivy or other climbing plants may hide many of the above faults and roots may undermine foundations causing breaks in damp-courses.  Roots of nearby trees may cause similar damage to foundations and damp-courses (and drains).

Internal Inspection – will an Inspector have free, uninterrupted access to all elements/areas?

Look for the evidence of moisture penetration where outside inspection has identified faults. In addition a number of potential causes of dampness will not be visible from the outside:

1. Solid stone or concrete floors with wooden skirtings and/or covered with timber where the         impervious membrane is punctured or of poor quality or where no membrane is fitted.

2. Condensation – this may be caused by:

a) unlagged steam pipes, especially under floors;

b) steam condensate, particularly in wet process factories;

c) high atmospheric moisture from normal bathroom and kitchen usage. This is especially important in uninsulated and/or poorly ventilated buildings and is the cause of much window joinery decay (sometimes self-inflicted because we do not open windows OR turn-off extractor-vent devices!).

3. Trapping of flood-water in under-floor space and over concrete.

4. Old toilets, either from fracture of the pan or, more commonly, from deterioration of old lead and sacking joints connecting the flushing water-pipe to the pan.

5. Close-fitting linoleum or vinyl flooring laid over unventilated or imperfectly ventilated wooden floors.

6. Ill-vented loft spaces (often due to over-insulating by Owners OR simply because of poor design).

Adequate sub-floor ventilation is vital and careful attention must be given to clearing blocked air vents (at the base of perimeter exterior walls) or air-holes in sleeper walls (brick support walls under mid-span of ground floor timbers). Dead air pockets in such unlit areas favours fungal decay and should be eliminated.

Steps must be taken to dry out existing dampness and to prevent further entry of water in addition to the eradication of the fungus and repair of damage caused. This is an invasive, damaging process that is both costly and a long process and one that is not normally covered by Building Insurances.

PROinspect comment that, especially with older or complex buildings, it is essential that clients talk to their chosen Surveyor: that person must assess what inspection problems he/she may be faced with and advise the client that perhaps specialist access equipment will be needed; seller permissions may also be required as limited damage may be created in this process.

By letting “others” instruct Surveyors on your behalf you are not getting the best for your money and this may cost you greatly when/if repairs are discerned at a later date.

Remember, always separate the Loan Valuation inspection/product from your private survey needs.

ARCHIVE ARTICLE FROM OCT 2008

Did you know (data taken from various internet sources)-

• 11% of English homes are at risk of some form of flooding (and with climate change this number is increasing daily).
• We are still building homes in natural flood plain districts.
• Insurance statistics show us that half a metre of flood-water causes £15,000 of damage in the average semi-detached home and £9,000 of that sum is uninsurable!
• The current normal range of Insurance payout cost for flood remediation works is £15 – £30,000 per home.
• Government policy is to build 3m new homes by 2020 and 1/3 of these will be within floodplains.

The new buzz words are “resistance” and “resilience” – in other words, reducing the amount of water that gets into your home and also reducing the damage that water causes.

What can you do to protect yourself? This depends on many factors, typically…….

1. Where are you buying?
2. What is the precise construction of that home?
3. How old is that home and when was it extended?
4. Proximity to sea, lakes and rivers plus altitude and topography?
5. What protects that home – how exposed is it?
6. Was it designed with flooding in mind?
7. Have multiple soft/permeable ground surfaces been hard landscaped?
8. Does it have a flooding history – have you asked?

When you are thinking of buying a home make enquiries, ask questions, drive around the district to pick up clues about water levels. Visit the Local Authority Planning and Building Control Departments and ask about your dream home.

When you have purchased “have a plan of self protection measures”! Sandbags, water diversion means/materials, how/who/went to transport of possessions/valuables to other out of town and higher altitude secure buildings, etc…..  However, initially we need to start designing with flooding in mind: so why aren’t we?

The slightly better news is that Government and the Insurance industry have at last signed up to a new protocol that ensures that flood damage insurance cover will not be withdrawn or otherwise not offered, BUT, only for homes built BEFORE 2009. If you are buying after this date then you need to clearly verify exactly how your Developer/Seller have minimised the potential of flood risk and how they have designed out much of the traditional potential damage that could be caused by water – this is up to you to activate and achieve and is not the duty of your solicitors, the seller or mortgage Valuer.

Longer term typical self-protection measures in existing housing could include:-

• Raising the height of power sockets
• Exterior Flood doors and lightweight, easily removable interior doors
• Stone or Ceramic tile ground floor form within a professional “tanking” system
• Waterproof cement plaster to lower areas
• Flood locking wall-base airbricks
• Marine varnish (multiple coats) skirtingboards on all faces and edges before fixing in place.
• Install screw-down (and well greased) drain inspection chamber covers.

On a more practical note – when you buy a home ask your Private Surveyor to comment on flood, ponding and surface water flow risks in relation to the land and building local characteristics.

Don’t forget that water damage can come in many differing forms: here is a selection of real problems diagnosed during real surveys completed by PROinspect:-

• Poor run-off design down a minor slope can cause havoc if the flood is directed into your garage!
• The lack of driveway edge kerbstones caused rainwater to enter wall-base airbricks and flood the underfloor void and eventually cause widespread floor decay!
• Conservatory added? About 30% of Builders forget to install rainwater outfall drains therefore massively increasing the risk of subsidence to both conservatory and main building.
• The removal of a front gate step (to insert a disabled person ramp access) caused road rainwater run-off to enter the house basement and flood two complete rooms!
• Over-extension of home: original rear rainwater downpipe redirected over an extensions flat roof from which a downpipe was redirected over a single storey extension flat roof that discharged over a conservatory roof – all into one normal capacity single downpipe!. Result, overfilling gutters ever time it rains, all made worse by the fact that the new conservatory downpipe was simply “stuck into the ground” without any drain outfall system attached.

One client said to us that his solicitor had commissioned an Environmental Risk Impact Report and that no flood risk had been identified. When we reported that his intended purchase was a poor flood risk he was confused and very angry! Why? Because he had not thought that flood damage can occur anywhere and is not restricted to floodplains in close proximity to the coast and rivers.

Have you noted the common strand running through these examples? Lack of knowledge; incompetent Contractors; ill-considered seller/occupier/landlord DIY.

Think about water flows, design for them, clearly monitor and then well maintain all aspects of drainage systems. Never underplay the power of water and running water.

Short term protection on your next purchase is to make sure you are not buying something that is in poor repair or has been improperly considered. Consider the impact of matters such as soft and damaged wall pointing, poor joinery paintwork, window and door frame edge gaps that are left open, the lack of water resistant wall paint systems applied up to 500mm over the potential flood water line, fixings used that are not of corrosion resistant materials (not mild steel) especially in relation to seawater flood risk areas, plasterboard wall linings and chipboard lower floorings not replaced with timber panels using WBP-bonded plywood and perhaps existing softwood floors that have not been preservative treated.

For services consider being proactive and …. raise the lower electrical ring main cabling to the upper floor level, use plaster conduits rather that burying cables within the wall plaster, use pipe insulation materials of the “closed cell” type that are not liable to water absorption, for drainage systems install non-return-valves and raise the height of all communication cables and equipment, etc…..

STOP – THINK – COMMISSION A PRIVATE SURVEY