COOMERA WATERS SUBSIDENCE DAMAGE

SUBSIDENCE, WALL CRACKS, STRUCTURAL ENGINEER REPORT.

The owners of this house at Coomera Waters found some cracks and gaps and called Forensic Engineers.
Our investigation found that the cracks & gaps were not so large and the building level variations were not excessive. However, our thorough investigation also found that part of the house was located on loose landfill which was gradually settling. And stabilizing the house would require some underpinning.
And, our expert engineer report indicated the underpinning locations, the best types of underpins and the best underpinners for the work.
The property owners were incredibly relieved that they had a positive plan to fix their precious home and could move forward with confidence.
Locally Based.
Forensic Engineers are based on the Gold Coast and service SE Qld & Nth NSW (subject to shceduling availability).
Extensive Experience.
We have decades of experience in soil test / geotechnical engineering as well as decades of subsidence & wall crack investigation experience. And our Structural Engineer reports draw on that knowledge of ground conditions that cause footing movements and house damages.

Home owners, buyers and sellers with house subsidence or wall crack problems

An expert RPEQ Engineer subsidence Report from Forensic Engineers generally costs between $650 - $900 ex GST. (local service area only). Forย  peace-of-mind, contact Forensic Engineers for an expert, independent Structural Engineer Report.

๐™๐™‰๐˜ฟ๐™€๐™๐™‹๐™„๐™‰๐™‰๐™€๐™ ๐˜ผ๐™๐™๐˜ผ๐™‰๐™‚๐™„๐™‰๐™‚ ๐™€๐™‰๐™‚๐™„๐™‰๐™€๐™€๐™ ๐™๐™€๐™‹๐™Š๐™๐™๐™Ž ๐™๐™Š๐™ ๐™”๐™Š๐™?

Some underpinners offer to arrange a report from their own engineer. Tฬฒhฬฒeฬฒ cฬฒฬฒoฬฒsฬฒtฬฒ iฬฒฬฒsฬฒ cฬฒฬฒoฬฒnฬฒsฬฒiฬฒdฬฒeฬฒrฬฒaฬฒbฬฒlฬฒyฬฒ mฬฒฬฒoฬฒrฬฒeฬฒ tฬฒฬฒhฬฒaฬฒnฬฒ fฬฒoฬฒrฬฒeฬฒnฬฒsฬฒiฬฒcฬฒ eฬฒnฬฒgฬฒiฬฒnฬฒeฬฒeฬฒrฬฒsฬฒ. Aฬฒnฬฒdฬฒ tฬฒฬฒhฬฒeฬฒrฬฒeฬฒ iฬฒฬฒsฬฒ aฬฒฬฒ hฬฒฬฒuฬฒgฬฒeฬฒ cฬฒฬฒoฬฒnฬฒfฬฒlฬฒiฬฒcฬฒtฬฒ oฬฒฬฒfฬฒ iฬฒฬฒnฬฒtฬฒeฬฒrฬฒeฬฒsฬฒtฬฒ. Forensic Engineers reports are 100% independent. We are not working for, or paid by any underpinner and we are certainly not trying to sell you any type of underpinning.

๐™๐˜ผ๐™‡๐™† ๐™๐™Š ๐™๐™Ž

Before committing to any type of underpinning, for peace-of-mind, contact us at Forensic Engineers for a chat and an independent opinion. If underpinning is necessary, then we also strongly advise sending your own independant Engineer Report to two or three underpinning companies for quotes before making a decision.

Forensic Engineers..When subsidence problems arise, we're on your side!


House Subsidence: Forest Lake

๐—›๐—ข๐—จ๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—ฆ๐—จ๐—•๐—ฆ๐—œ๐——๐—˜๐—ก๐—–๐—˜: ๐—™๐—ข๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—ฆ๐—ง ๐—Ÿ๐—”๐—ž๐—˜

A brilliant Pre-Purchase Building & Pest Inspection found External Gaps & Possible Subsidence problems & recommended that the buyer should Call Forensic Engineers for an independent expert opinion!

๐™Š๐™ช๐™ง ๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ช๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™–๐™ก ๐™€๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š๐™š๐™ง ๐™„๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™—๐™ช๐™ฎ๐™š๐™ง ๐™ž๐™™๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™›๐™ž๐™š๐™™;

  • Gaps in window reveals & in door jambs
  • A few cracks in brick mortar and a few interior cracks & gaps
  • Some variations in the floor levels, that were not serious

๐™Š๐™ช๐™ง ๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ช๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™–๐™ก ๐™€๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š๐™š๐™ง ๐™๐™š๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™ก๐™ช๐™™๐™š๐™™;

There had been some slight initial settlements

  • They were not serious
  • Subsidence had abated long ago
  • The house was now perfectly stable.

๐™Š๐™ช๐™ง ๐™š๐™ญ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ง๐™ฉ ๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ช๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™–๐™ก ๐™€๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š๐™š๐™ง ๐™๐™š๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ ๐™œ๐™–๐™ซ๐™š ๐™‹๐™š๐™–๐™˜๐™š-๐™ค๐™›-๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™– ๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™ฎ ๐™๐™–๐™ฅ๐™ฅ๐™ฎ ๐™—๐™ช๐™ฎ๐™š๐™ง.

๐—œ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—˜๐—ป๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ. And Forensic Engineers are the specialists to turn to.


Engineer Reports for Wall Cracks & Subsidence - What Do I get

Engineer Reports for Wall Cracks & Subsidence - What Do I get?

This is a common question we get from clients looking to book a structural engineer inspection. At Forensic Engineers, rest assured, we always do a thorough investigation for any signs of subsidence and building movements.

๐—” ๐—ง๐˜†๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ, ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฒ; ๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜€

Just recently we inspected a house For Sale at Springfield Lakes for a buyer.
The building & Pest Report had identified a few small brick wall cracks & some slope in the floor that did not appear to be too serious, but just to be safe, he recommended that the buyer contacted Forensic Engineers to do an inspection and report.

๐™๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™š๐™ญ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ ๐™›๐™ง๐™ค๐™ข ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ช๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™–๐™ก ๐™€๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š๐™š๐™ง ๐™๐™š๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™˜๐™–๐™จ๐™š;

๐Ÿฏ.๐Ÿญ ๐—˜๐˜…๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ฟ

  • Left side wall โ€œbendingโ€
  • Bed 1 front wall, partial rendering done
  • Garage left entry gap
  • Bath wall cracks & window reveal gap
  • Bed 3 wall cracks & window reveal gap
  • Kitchen wall crack
  • Rear patio column lean
  • Rear patio slab settlements of the rear-left corner & cracks
  • Dining/living wall corner crack filled
  • Living window reveal gap
  • West wall window reveal gaps filled
  • Living wall crack
  • Bed 2 wall cracks under sill
  • Bed 2/garage wall corner crack filled
  • Garage rear wall crack over door
  • Widespread variations in mortar shades

๐Ÿฏ.๐Ÿฎ ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ฟ

  • Garage floor slab cracks & west edge slab dampness
  • Hallway/toilet ceiling cornice cracks
  • Hallway/bed 2 ceiling cornice crack
  • Living window architrave tension gaps

๐Ÿฐ.๐Ÿฌ ๐—™๐—Ÿ๐—ข๐—ข๐—ฅ ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—Ÿ๐—ฆ

*Test locations are approximate. Carpet & underlay depths varied from room to room & carpet wear affected readings.
The findings show that there have been differential settlements of the house slab. Specifically, there is visible bending of the left wall, caused by settlements of the rear and front-left corner.

๐Ÿฑ.๐Ÿฌ ๐—–๐—”๐—จ๐—ฆ๐—˜๐—ฆ

๐Ÿฑ.๐Ÿญ ๐—ฆ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐˜€.

In this case, it is likely that original estate development civil works resulted in placement of loose landfill on sections of the block. It is apparent that consolidation of soft/loose soils under some areas of the slab have caused settlements, floor level variations and damages.
Ground movements, and particularly differential settlements have caused the slab level variations and the damages identified.

๐Ÿฒ.๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—–๐—ข๐— ๐— ๐—˜๐—ก๐——๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก๐—ฆ

๐Ÿฒ.๐Ÿญ ๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ณ

The floor level variations and house damages have been caused by ground movements - particularly differential settlements. There is no urgency to do so, but assurance of stability and some reasonable correction of floor level variations would require some underpinning.

๐Ÿฒ.๐Ÿฎ ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด

We have illustrated the approximate underpinning locations (see yellow highlights on sketch), subject to the design engineerโ€™s input.
We estimate that conventional underpinning utilizing reinforced concrete piers & headstocks would involve approximately 15 underpins.
A reasonable industry rate for underpinning would be approximately $2,500 - $3,500 per underpin location, but this may vary, subject to engineerโ€™s design.

Establishment & general repair & clean-up costs also apply

๐Ÿฒ.๐Ÿฏ ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€

Underpinning Contractors should be well established Registered Repair Builders who do all of the repairs and do not use subcontractors for any repair work;

๐Ÿฒ.๐Ÿฐ ๐—ง๐˜†๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด

As advised...

๐™๐™ž๐™ง๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™„๐™ข๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™จ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ ๐™ค๐™›๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™ก๐™ž๐™š

The impression was that the house had undergone some subsidence and had some "normal" wall cracks, and it looked like it was not serious.
But our thorough investigation found that the house was not stable at all, and ongoing settlements were causing the house slab to bend in the long direction (front-to back). And it was getting worse.

๐—œ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐—ป, ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ!

๐™€๐™ญ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ง๐™ž๐™š๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™š๐™™ & ๐™๐™๐™ค๐™ง๐™ค๐™ช๐™œ๐™

Our subsidence investigations call on decades of soil testing experience. And we meticulously examine the building for gaps and cracks.

๐™๐™ก๐™ค๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ก๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ก ๐™Ž๐™ช๐™ง๐™ซ๐™š๐™ฎ โ€“ ๐™‘๐™š๐™ง๐™ฎ ๐™„๐™ข๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฉ!

We always take a floor level survey which is Absolutely Essential for any subsidence and wall crack investigation.

Any respectable engineer subsidence report has to include a floor level survey. Without it, it is impossible to identify and interpret footing and slab movements and particularly, the severity and influence of house damages.


Do I need a structural engineer report - absolutely

Do I Need a Structural Engineer Report? Absolutely!

๐—ฃ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฎ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ โ€“ ๐™ฌ๐™๐™ฎ ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ข๐™ฎ ๐™›๐™ก๐™ค๐™ค๐™ง ๐™—๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ?

This house was about to be renovated, but the owner was concerned about โ€œbouncing floorsโ€ and called Forensic Engineers to investigate.
Our expert investigation found;
โ€ข The house stumps have subsided and were leaning severely
โ€ข There were other very serious problems with the house bearers and foundations and more..
โ€ข There was no doubt that the house and renovations would sustain damages unless the house was re-stumped first.
๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ด.

๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ โ€“ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™—๐™ง๐™ž๐™˜๐™  ๐™ข๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ง ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™›๐™–๐™ก๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฉ!!

The buyer of this house was concerned about brick cracks.
Our expert investigation found:
โ€ข The house had some foundation movements
โ€ข The house footings had not moved significantly
โ€ข The wall cracks were only in masonry joints
โ€ข The masonry joint were filled with mortar instead of an elasticated compound
โ€ข Repairs were simple; replace the joint seals with an industry standard, elasticated compound
๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ. ๐˜๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ด๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ญ๐˜บ.

๐—–๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ โ€“ ๐™’๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ง ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™จ๐™ก๐™–๐™—??

The buyer was very concerned about the slab edge beam not being on solid ground.
Our expert investigation found:
โ€ข The house had a waffle-pod slab
โ€ข There were some areas where the slab edge was not supported on solid ground
โ€ข The slab was also suspended on piers and also anchored into a retaining wall
โ€ข There had been no deflections of the house slab
๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ-๐˜ข๐˜ด-๐˜ข-๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ. ๐˜๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ด๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ญ๐˜บ.

๐—–๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ โ€“ ๐˜ฝ๐™ค๐™ฎ-๐™ค๐™-๐™—๐™ค๐™ฎ โ€“ ๐˜พ๐™–๐™ก๐™ก ๐™๐™ค๐™ง๐™š๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™ž๐™˜ ๐™€๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š๐™š๐™ง๐™จ!!!

This property was built in the 80โ€™s and was being put up for sale and the agent was concerned about house cracks. So she called Forensic Engineers.
And Wow! We found a lot of wall cracks, and more!
Our expert investigation found
โ€ข Massive wall & ceiling cracks, tears and gaps
โ€ข Huge variations in floor levels
โ€ข Serious slab bending
โ€ข Significant slope from the front-left to the rear-right corner.
โ€ข Highly plastic clay soils shrinking and swelling
โ€ข Inadequate footings and slab.
๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด. ๐˜๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ซ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ซ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ด. And it's not likely to be ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ.

SINK HOLES IN TAIGUM, HOUSE SETTLEMENTS IN KURABY & SUBSIDENCE IN MERMAID WATERS

๐™…๐™ช๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™– ๐™ฉ๐™ฎ๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™˜๐™–๐™ก ๐™™๐™–๐™ฎ ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™๐™ค๐™ง๐™š๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™ž๐™˜ ๐™€๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š๐™š๐™ง๐™จ.

๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ด๐˜‚๐—บ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ - ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฎ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€.

  • A broken water pipe had caused a large sink hole to form under a townhouse driveway.
  • The residents we are afraid that the driveway could collapse and that other damages might appear!
  • Thank goodness that our Expert Investigation found that the slab had not been damaged.
  • The damage was localized.
  • So we recommended the hole could be filled and the driveway slab re-supported using either Polyurethane Resin Injection, or with hyflow cementitious grout aka "Mud-Jacking".

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ž๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐˜† C๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ - ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜† ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.

  • This older house had serious movements of the perimeter footings and the stumps under the floor.
  • Most of Kuraby has highly plastic clay founding soils which can cause footings to seriously lift and settle and often "rotate" (lean).
  • The footings had moved so much that the timber floor had become unstable.
  • So we recommended vacating the house. And then comprehensive re-stumping & replacement of the perimeter base and footings.

๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ - ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ P๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜† O๐˜„๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.

  • The townhouse complex is located on compressible landfill which has been slowly settling for decades.
  • We identified recent cracks and gaps and serious variations in the floor levels which would be due to active settlements of the founding materials.
  • We considered a number of methods for stabilizing the house footings and the only reliable one would be using conventional underpinning, possibly incorporating some steel screw piers where a water table is encountered.

๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐—ป๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฎ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€, ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ข๐˜„๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ & ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜† ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€


GOLD COAST HOME OWNER WAS TOLD URGENT UNDERPINNING WAS REQUIRED COSTING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS

UNDERPINNER FREE HOME ASSESSMENT WAS WRONG

GOLD COAST HOME OWNER WAS TOLD URGENT UNDERPINNING WAS REQUIRED COSTING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. THANK GOODNESS HE CONTACTED FORENSIC ENGINEERS FOR AN INDEPENDENT REPORT, BECAUSE WE FOUND IT SIMPLY WAS NOT TRUE. HERE ARE SOME REPORT HIGHLIGHTS.

PROPERTY DESCRIPTION

The house comprises;

โ€ข Multi-level
โ€ข Masonry, stud & blueboard walls
โ€ข Slab on ground, suspended slab & timber floors
โ€ข Tile roof

FINDINGS

Exterior

  • Garage left entry, erosion void under edge of firewall footing
  • Similar slight erosion noted under edge of firewall of units 7&8
  • Front storm water downpipe not vertical (as installed)
  • Front wall some blueboard sheet joint edge gaps, some blueboard crack repairs
  • Front driveway (old) cracks
  • North wall some crack repairs
  • West outdoor living roof beam joint seal split

Interior

  • Garage slab cracks
  • Garage & store wall cracks, ceiling (slab) fine cracks
  • Family/dining (added) stud wall edge gaps
  • Kitchen bulkhead some edge cracks
  • Some door architrave /wall gaps
  • 3rd level window reveal trim wear & some ceiling sheet edge gaps
  • 2nd level laundry wall crack
  • 2nd level hallway & bed 3 wall cracks

FLOOR LEVELS

*Relative zero was reset for each floor. Test locations are approximate and may be restricted by household items. Carpet wear affects readings, bathroom slabs fall to the floor waste and garage floor slabs are often finished with a fall to the door. Unit 9 (adjacent) recorded a level of -11 at the front left entry
We took levels on the floors (illustrated in mm in red highlights). There are some variations that would be "as finished" levels and also floor level variations which are likely to be associated with some slight ground movements. It is our interpretation that any floor level variations caused by ground movements are minimal, and are well within the allowed tolerances of AS 2870 appendix C and table 4.1.

CRACK CATEGORIES

Wall cracks are up to category 2 in accordance with AS2870-2011 Appendix C. Garage slab cracks are category 1 in accordance with AS2870-2011 Appendix C

CAUSES

Foundation soil movements

Our local experience indicates that the founding soils of the housing estate consist of clean landfill which was pre-consolidated prior to commencement of construction.

Although the quality density of the founding material would be certified by civil engineers as a suitable standard for high level footing construction, there can be some slight initial / normal footing settlements under applied loads which are within design tolerances.

Some landfill can also have the capacity to shrink and swell with variations in moisture content - again which is generally not significant and within design tolerances.

In this case it is likely that there has been some slight initial footing/slab settlements which caused some cracks & gaps. In addition, some current, slight footing & slab movements is likely to be a contributing factor.

Settlements, drains & erosion.

We could not identify any evidence or likelihood that the slight erosion under the garage firewall edge has caused any settlements or footing/slab instability.

Other causes of cracks & gaps

The building elements; blueboard, concrete, plasterboard & framing can undergo differential expansion and contraction with variations in temperature and humidity.

This can be exacerbated by the quality of finishing and fitments at the construction stage.

Garage floor slab cracks

The cracks in the garage floor are "plastic shrinkage cracks" which would have originated shortly after the slab was poured. The cracks occur due to concrete shrinkage as it cures and the cracks generally grow as the surface edges wear and they become more visible as they collect dirt. They are not a structural defect.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Brief

There is no evidence or likelihood of any significant movements of the footings or slabs and in particular there is no evidence that the unit 10/unit 9 garage common firewall and slab have sustained any settlements as a consequence of the erosion from the storm drain.
And there is certainly no requirement to stabilize / support the garage firewall footing and/or slab with any type of underpinning.
Repairs

  • The storm drains should have sealed connections and seepage should not be allowed under the footing ot slab edges. The void can be plugged with non-shrink cementitious grout.
  • The exterior blueboard sheet edge gaps can be repaired by raking out and sealing with polyurethane compound such as Sikaflex 11FC.
  • Any exterior door & window frame gaps can also be sealed with SIKAFLEX 11FC or similar.
  • Interior ceiling & wall cracks can be filled and painted. Use of fibreglass joint tape is recommended.
  • Garage floor cracks do not require repair
  • Masonry and concrete cracks can be raked out and repaired with high bond strength non-shrink cementitious grout.

PEACE OF MIND

If your house develops cracks and gaps, Do yourself a favour.
Before jumping into any kind of expensive underpinning, it is essential to get an independent engineer report to find out is it is actually necessary and if it is, then which type is the most appropriate.

HOW MUCH DOES AN ENGINEER REPORT COST?

An expert RPEQ Engineer subsidence Report from Forensic Engineers generally costs between $650 - $900 ex GST. (local service area only).

UNDERPINNER ARRANGING ENGINEER REPORTS FOR YOU

Some underpinners offer to arrange a report from their own engineer. The cost is considerably more than Forensic Engineers. And there is a huge conflict of interest. Forensic Engineers reports are 100% independent. We are not working for, or paid by an underpinner and we are certainly not trying to sell you any type of underpinning.

TALK TO US

Before committing to any type of underpinning, for peace-of-mind, contact us at Forensic Engineers for a chat and an independent opinion.


Polyurethane Resin Injection Underpinning? Slab Lifting Required

This Gymnasium floor is out-of-level and keeps on moving.

Our Structural Engineer investigation found the building is on Brisbane River compressible river alluvial soils. And that they are constantly, gradually subsiding.

Also, flood events and saturation of the founding soils also exacerbate the subsidence.

After a thorough investigation, our RPEQ Structural Engineer Report recommended ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—จ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป for re-establisment of an even floor surface.

There are a number of Companies offering Urethane Resin solutions for slab settlements and footing subsidence.

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜‡๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ, ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—น๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น. Depending the type of construction and the ground conditions and most importantly, The Experience of the Company doing the work.

If you are considering Resin Injection Underpinning, it is advisable to get an independent engineer report first.

Expert RPEQ Structural Engineer Reports: Forensic Engineers.


Which Underpinning is Best?

๐—ช๐—›๐—œ๐—–๐—› ๐—ง๐—ฌ๐—ฃ๐—˜ ๐—ข๐—™ ๐—จ๐—ก๐——๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—ฃ๐—œ๐—ก๐—ก๐—œ๐—ก๐—š ๐—œ๐—ฆ ๐—•๐—˜๐—ฆ๐—ง?

๐™๐™๐™š ๐™—๐™š๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™šย is determined is determined by

  • the building type
  • the ground conditions
  • achievable results
  • accessibility
  • affordability

๐—™๐—œ๐—ฅ๐—ฆ๐—ง ๐—ฅ๐—จ๐—Ÿ๐—˜ : Get an independent opinion

The different Underpinning methods, costs and achievable results are very confusing. That's where Forensic Engineers can help. Before signing up for any type of expensive underpinning, do yourself a favour and contact Forensic Engineers for an expert, independent structural engineer report. Because we are on your side.

๐—ฆ๐—˜๐—–๐—ข๐—ก๐—— ๐—ฅ๐—จ๐—Ÿ๐—˜: ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—•๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚?

  • Reinforced concrete pier underpinning is the industry standard due to the practicality and long-term reliability.
  • Polyurethane Resin Underpinning can be very effective for densifying and binding founding soils and lifting footings and concrete slabs. It is important that the Resins are injected throughout the soil profile layers that are causing any footing and slab settlements, and not just immediately under the footings and slab. Also, certain footing and slab designs and certain ground conditions may limit the results of Polyurethane Resin Underpinning.
  • Steel screw piers have benefits where ground water and collapsible soils are encountered, as well as cases where extra deep piers are needed to find strong natural ground. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ have extensive experience in all types of underpinning and will install the industry standard reinforced ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€, or ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—น ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€, if and when required, and at a realistic cost.
  • How to choose the best underpinning company? Our advice would be to ๐™–๐™ซ๐™ค๐™ž๐™™ ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ง๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™š๐™จ ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ ๐™›๐™ก๐™–๐™จ๐™๐™ฎ ๐™œ๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฏ๐™ฎ ๐™ฌ๐™š๐™—๐™จ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™š๐™จ and only offer one specific type of underpinning. The best in the industry have no-frills websites which simply show their capabilities and experience. And the offer the best value for money.

๐—ง๐—›๐—œ๐—ฅ๐—— ๐—ฅ๐—จ๐—Ÿ๐—˜: ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎn Independent ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐—ป๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ Subsidence ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜?

The base industry cost in South-East Queensland is around $7๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ.๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ-$๐Ÿต๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ.๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ,ย  depending on the house size and the property location.

Forensic Engineers have decades of Soil Testing experience, so we know what kinds of ground conditions can cause footing and slab movements. And we are 100% independent. Forensic Engineers are the subsidence and underpinning specialists, and when we inspect your home and prepare an engineer report, ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ.

Some underpinners offer to arrange Structural Engineer Reports from their own engineers. This is a huge conflict of interest. And the underpinners charge significantly higher rates for a standard Engineer Subsidence Report.

๐™„๐™› ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™ž๐™™๐™š๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ง๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™๐™ค๐™ข๐™š, ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™—๐™š๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™–๐™™๐™ซ๐™ž๐™˜๐™š ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™–๐™ง๐™ง๐™–๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™š ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™ค๐™ฌ๐™ฃ ๐™„๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ช๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™–๐™ก ๐™€๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š๐™š๐™ง ๐™๐™š๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ ๐™—๐™š๐™›๐™ค๐™ง๐™š ๐™จ๐™ž๐™œ๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฎ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™–๐™˜๐™ฉ. ๐™๐™๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™จ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š๐™š๐™ง ๐™ง๐™š๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ง๐™š๐™š ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ง๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ฆ๐™ช๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™š๐™จ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™–๐™™๐™ซ๐™ž๐™˜๐™š.

๐—™๐—ข๐—จ๐—ฅ๐—ง๐—› ๐—ฅ๐—จ๐—Ÿ๐—˜: ๐—”๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ฑ Unnecessary ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฃ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ

In many cases, footings and slabs can be stabilized without resorting to any expensive & stressful underpinning at all. And excessive footing movements can often be reduced by following expert advice. Talk to Forensic Engineers for the best solutions!

Subsidence & wall cracks? Before jumping into expensive underpinning, contact Forensic Engineers for an expert, independent structural engineer report.

๐—˜๐—ก๐—— ๐—š๐—”๐— ๐—˜: ๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ธ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜-๐—ด๐—ผ!

Contact FORENSIC ENGINEERS for an expert RPEQ Engineer Report for subsidence, wall cracks and underpinning. ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ.

Servicing Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and surrounds. Contact us today for a chat about about subsidence and a quote for an engineer investigation and report.


Sink Holes, Subsidence, Voids under Footings & Slabs

These are common foundation issues we investigate every day.

Be alert.

Sink Holes can be some simple, localized surface erosion that cannot affect the integrity of structures. Or they can be caused by more serious and deep erosion, deep subsidence or even soil liquefaction.ย  If you find any of these things happening around your home, the most important thing is to get an expert structural engineer report to determine the cause and what needs to be done to ensure your home is stable.

Act now.

In some cases the problem could develop into serious damage which can require expensive repairs.

Peace-of-mind

In some cases the structure may not be affected at all by ground movements, and thank goodness! A report from Forensic Engineers can provide peace-of-mind.
Noticed some ground movements around your home?ย  Contact us for a chat and a free quote to schedule a thorough Engineer Investigation and Report.

Own, Buying or Selling a House with Cracks?

Wall, ceiling or floor cracks & gaps?

It may be simple wear & tear, or it may be a sign of some Subsidence.
It may also Subsidence that is serious and could gradually get worse and worse.
And there are also cases where subsidence & cracks have cleverly been covered up, particularly with houses that are renovated & "flipped".

Expert Structural Engineer Reports

Our expert Structural Engineer Reports identify old and new subsidence and cracks and determine if they are serious or wear-and-tear. And if if they are likely to get worse and if any stabilizing or underpinning is necessary.

Peace-of-Mind

Building cracks can develop by wear & tear or from foundation movements and Forensic Engineers are the independent experts to turn to for an expert analysis and for peace-of-mind.
Contact us for a free quote for an independent engineer report.

0403 434 092