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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:41 pm
by divvydeb
Hi everyone
I'm in the process of having my garden renovated (perks of living with a landscape gardener) and all was going well until fairly recently. He has built raised beds along the back of the garden and down one side, (single skin wall using marshalls tegula walling). These have been built on concrete footings.
The walls were built in May and last month a huge crack developed in one of the walls, running from bottom to top, in a zig zag, through all 8 courses of bricks. My other half says it is the result of ground movement caused by the recent very dry weather, added to which there are several sycamore trees which run alongside the boundary fence (not on my land sadly), which he thinks are adding to the problem. He has never had this happen in 25 years of landscaping. He is reluctant to dig out the pointing and redo it as he said that once the weather gets wetter again the ground will move back, and it could be something that will reoccur every summer.
His suggestion is to plant something in front of the wall which will disguise the crack. I'm really not keen on this but wondered what solutions anyone else could suggest? I know he will moan if I ask him to take the wall down and redesign that area of the garden but this is something we will be living with for years to come so it needs to be right.
Thanks.
Deb
Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 9:37 pm
by GB_Groundworks
yeah trees will have sucked all the water out. heave and shrinkage, footing should have been deeper with that many trees around, rake out and repoint. should be ok,
Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 9:39 pm
by lutonlagerlout
maybe trade him in for a bricklayer :;):
I wouldn't expect anything to fail in less than 3 months, i did similar planters in my own garden 5 years ago and its still fine
rebuild IMHO
LLL 
Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 9:49 pm
by GB_Groundworks
rebuild is the best way to go, like tony says but its all about your standards
is it just a crack or have the joints opened up, what footings are they on?
but you should be giving him lots of stick about it hahaha
Edited By GB_Groundworks on 1280954976
Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 11:27 am
by divvydeb
The footings are concrete but not sure how deep.
The jointing has opened all the way through the wall rather than just cracked at the front so I would have thought the only thing to do is to take it down and rebuild it.
Also, my living room is at the back of my house, with french doors looking straight onto the garden. This particular stretch of wall is in a direct line of sight from where we sit on sofa so there's no avoiding it. This is also why I think sticking a big plant in front of it is a daft idea.
I'll let you know how we get on, I just wanted confirmation that I wasn't being picky by going down the 'take it down and do it again' route.
Thanks for all the replies guys, nice to know I can always get an answer to my problems. Now all I need to know is how to make 13 Sycamore trees magically disappear from where they stand in a row less than 10 feet from my garden fence!!!
Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:09 pm
by GB_Groundworks
Now I have never done this and wouldn't recommended anyone kill off some elses trees but if you drilled a fair size hole with an auger bit into the trunk and then filled it with something nasty old engine oil, brake fluid or nitromors etc then stick a twig in the hole.
Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:25 pm
by divvydeb
Haha thanks for the tip. However, seeing as I have asked repeatedly if the trees could be cut back (see I'm reasonable, I didn't demand that they were removed) AND have offered to pay for this myself, I think it would look mighty suspicious if they were all to suddenly die! They are a pain in the neck though as my garden is in shade from 2pm onwards, despite being south facing, due to these stupidly tall trees. Whoever planted them so close to a house needs their head examined. But we digress lol.
Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 12:33 am
by 47p2
I've heard that if you hammer copper nails into a tree trunk the tree will die 
Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 2:40 am
by divvydeb
Yep I've heard that one too lol. However I don't want to risk any come back with accusations of criminal damage etc so have decided to leave well alone and am going to try to plead my case on grounds of possible subsidence/damage to my property (my house has cracks all over the place in the plasterwork and round the doors/windows etc. There is also a 30 foot fir tree at the front, the trunk of which sits about ten foot from the walls of my house, and I am convinced that it is one of the main causes of said cracks. I need to find another forum/website methinks lol.
Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 8:11 am
by lutonlagerlout
sycamores are weeds in that they self seed and are unwanted,I had to have 11 taken out next to a proposed job and it aint cheap
however we cant blame trees for everything
if the trees are to blame inform your insurance company,I had the same situation a ew years ago with leylandii and they informed the neighbour that unless he kept them to a certain height he would be liable for any subsidence claim on my house
and he had to keep them trimmed after that
good luck
LLL
Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 12:36 pm
by divvydeb
In all serousness I do have concerns about the long term effect of these trees as I am finding cracks all round the windows and doors at the moment, all on the side of the house nearest to the trees. I'm just not sure who to contact first.
Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 1:21 pm
by mickg
>>>>I'm just not sure who to contact first.
1...your insurance company ?
2...the owner of the land what has the tree's ?
3...International rescue, ask for Virgil or Scott
Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 1:59 pm
by divvydeb
The trees are on common land on the estate where I live, which all residents pay the princely sum of £750 to maintain. I have spoken to them several times, and the answer I get every time is that if I don't like the trees then I shouldn't have bought the house! They have grown massively since I moved in 5 yrs ago though and to be honest I didn't really notice them as it was winter when we did the viewings and the trees were bare.
Other half is in business with a tree surgeon who is of the opinion that they have been planted way to close to the house and need to be cut back if removal is not an option, particularly as they will continue to grow much bigger.
Looks like Scott or Virgil it is then!!
Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 4:21 pm
by Mikey_C
divvydeb wrote:Now all I need to know is how to make 13 Sycamore trees magically disappear from where they stand in a row less than 10 feet from my garden fence!!!
if they form a boundary then by law they are not allowed to exceed 6'6" same as a fence (without planning). if you can get to the base or root of one put a few copper nails in them, apparently this will kill them (over time). failing that, the next the travelling fraternity turn up locally, get them to put a slice each side (pay cash, deny everything)
Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 4:47 pm
by Bob_A
Hope this is not to off topic but......
Talking of killing trees without other people knowing what's the best way of doing this.
I've also heard of copper nails but are there other ways.
Don't get me wrong trees I don't believe in killing trees for the sake of it, what a sad world it would be without trees.
But you do get people who neglect such trees as Leylandii and couldn't give a feck if it makes other peoples lives a misery.
Disclaimer
This is just a hypothetical question and so is any subsequent banter 
