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Brick Veneer of double storey Ballina Home Stabilised and Re-tied
Our Brief
This double storey house with a brick veneer in Ballina, northern NSW, was suffering from a variety of structural problems. The house had a slightly leaning facade due to subsidence of the ground. But not far off, the garage was also flooded — all of the time.
Unable to find a local builder savvy about remedial repairs, the home owner eventually called us to investigate and carry out repairs.
Our Challenge
Upon a review of the ground, we discovered it to be heavily eroded due to excessive amounts of water.
However, the excess water didn’t come from rain, overflowing or damaged stormwater drains or broken pipes from the house. The source of erosion was from a faulty subterranean cross-flow water system that ran from the garden, under the house and down a slope to the garage.
This cross-flow had been going on for years and years.
Due to excess water from the cross-flow, the strip footing of the house had begun to subside causing the brick veneer to subside too. It had shifted to an extent where the old steel ties connecting the structure’s timber frame and brick veneer were ready to decouple.
Left any longer, the brick veneer could have come crashing down.
Our Solution
Our first priority was to stop the brick veneer from sinking or leaning any further by stabilising the ground on which it sat. To do so, we injected our proprietary geopolymer resin solution, GeoPoly™, into the ground to stabilise the wet soil and the wall.
Having stabilised the ground and re-levelled the brick veneer, we were now faced with the next challenge — tying the brick back to the timber structure of the house.
Using our very own 8mm HelicalBars™, we carefully and precisely tied the external brick veneer back into the timber stud wall, implementing true stability and safety.
The Outcome
For years, the owner of this Ballina home was unable to find someone to give him a satisfactory explanation for why water had been pooling in the garage. Or explain the oversaturated nature of the soil in his garden.
Luckily, a local builder who knew about us clued the homeowner in.
With our expertise, we were able to connect the dots. We found the source of the flooding, stabilised the home’s brick veneer and re-tied the wall to his home’s timber structure within half a day.
The facade is now stable. After the owner carried out repairs to his subterranean cross-flow water system, the garage is no longer flooded.