Structural Surveyors in London

Building surveys in London

If you are considering a structural survey of a building in london, then you've found the right place! We have a huge amount of experience in undertaking structural surveys of Period Properties - with particular emphasis on the very typical problems found in London as opposed to anywhere else. The building surveyor working in London needs to be able to recognise problems that are a direct result of bombing raids - homes were often rebuilt using London brick that was reclaimed from bombed out houses - and mortar was made from crushed rubble. We've seen many crude air raid shelters made from sheets of heavy corrugated iron, with iron girders underneath them - installed in the floors of ground floor flats and forming the ceiling to basements. Rusting iron beams then jack the masonry above them, causing structural problems. Often these basements had restricted airflow as a result of attempts to make them 'gas proof' - some contain old breathing / ventilation systems with periscope ductwork going up to street level - nearly always blocked. The surveyor in London thus has his work cut out to sort this sort of problem out. Another major issue is drains - again often bombed to oblivion and never properly restored, we find cracked drainage systems are one of the biggest issues in London surveys. 

Another issue to consider is how older houses were lived in. There was strict segregation between upstairs rooms, where gentry lived, and the downstairs kitchen and scullery, with maids rooms. Separate staircases and entrances - the ever present ingle fireplace with huge deposits of soot and salts. All of these have now been changed and incorporated into modern life - all too often though, we see these rooms thickly coated with damp company tanking, cement slurry, plastic membranes, and a variety of other snake oil damp proofing methods - none of which work. Most of the rooms are damp as a result. Removal of all these ridiculous coatings comes first - then we can address whether the area really IS damp or not - often it just needs really good ventilation to become warm and dry. One of our clients bought a run-down property in Spitalfields and we helped restore it to a warm, dry home with a lovely big basement apartment.

Our South Eastern office handles work all over the South East, from Kent to Surrey, Sussex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and surrounding areas. Recent surveys have taken place in Tring, Leighton Buzzard, Dunstable, Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, and in the High Street of Woburn. The team have extensive experience working with London styled property, or old timber framed / weatherboard property, where we are usually able to use thermal imaging to assess hidden parts of the framing.

The images below show a basement, converted into an air raid shelter during the war - with massive steel girders in the ceiling of the shelter. They were rusting and jacking the building above.

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