How Much Does Underpinning a House Cost?

09 Feb How Much Does Underpinning a House Cost?

Internal and external cracks, walls warping, and doors and windows not closing properly. These are all signs of subsidence and need investigating. So what causes the problem? Shallow foundations, trees, and leaking water mains can all cause the ground below a building to sink compromising its structural integrity.

With up to 20% of homes in England and Wales at risk of subsidence, what’s the solution? Underpinning can be used proactively to shore up a house or repair the effects of subsidence. But how much does it cost? That depends on a number of factors all of which can push costs up or drive them down.

A long list of cost factors affects the cost of repairing subsidence the biggest of which are the extent of the damage and the methods used to repair it. Other important costs to consider include:

Professional fees: depending on the work you’ll need to pay for a structural engineer and contractor plus other trades like plumbing, decorating and even a tree surgeon

Cause of the subsidence: blocked drains are quicker and cheaper to repair than problems with foundations

Size of the house: the bigger the property the higher the costs of materials and labour.

Number of floors: houses with several floors will generally require more work than bungalows because of the need for extra support

Party Wall Agreement: if the issue is affecting your neighbour then you’ll need to tackle it together. A party wall agreement can cost £2,500

Types of underpinning

Using specialist equipment, pilings can be driven through unstable ground to reach firmer ground at greater depths. It’s a great solution when you need to create exceptional support but it’s also the most expensive method.

The most popular and cost-effective method of underpinning, this involves pouring concrete into holes around the home and avoids the need to remove the current foundations. However, this method can be time consuming.

This is a more technically advanced version of mass concrete underpinning using concrete ground beams to transfer the building load to a series of concrete bases.

A mixture of hardener and glue is injected into the foundations. This expands to fill cracks and strengthen the existing foundations delivering fast results.

At BSB Concrete Services we’re the groundworks experts. We offer a full range of underpinning solutions including piling, mini pilings and ground beams to meet your project needs. If your house has subsidence issues get in touch today.