BUILDING ON RECLAIMED LAND

If your home was originally built on reclaimed land, for example a marshy site or industrial land, there can often be a problem when you come to add an extension such as a conservatory to it. The areas of derelict and vacant land found in many of Britain’s towns and cities are a legacy of our industrial past and also of our need to find more building space for new homes.

So if your home is built on reclaimed land it will almost certainly be constructed on substantial footings and your conservatory will need reinforced foundations as well. Fortunately, modern building methods mean that it is no longer necessary to dig deep trenches for your foundations causing a huge disruption in your garden and the problem and cost of disposing of the waste material.

Your building contractor or architect should be aware of whether your home falls into this category and can advise you on the best solution. Often this will be by drilling a number of auger-bored piles into the ground and then building a concrete raft on top of these.

If there is restricted access to the site, small auger boring machines are used. These can be petrol or diesel driven and if noise is likely to be a problem, quieter electrically driven versions are available.

The finished result will leave a foundation beneath which the ground can move without destabilising the conservatory.

If you home is subject to subsidence problems similar steps will need to be taken to provide stable foundations.

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