Restoration & Refurbishment

Garage wall is bowing and roof is twisted...demolition or repair?

Anonymous user 28/02/2024 - 2.58 PM

We have a 1905 terraced house with a garage that was built about 30-40 years ago by knocking the end wall of the attached wash house out, building a single skin wall and extending the apex roof over the existing 1905 single skin garden wall. The garage is 26'10" long with an apex slate roof. You walk into the garage from the main house through a connecting door and down steps. You can then see the different levels of floor where the outhouse used to be and the additional rows of bricks added to the garden wall to form the wall of the garage. The garden wall is now bowing badly and the wall has moved 6 inches away from the roof beams, which are hanging in mid air at one side. The roof has twisted and dropped where it is no longer supported, I am worried it will fall and hurt someone, although I also have no idea whether it has been like this for a while. I bought the house 7 years ago and it wasn't picked up at survey. I know I'm going to have to do something. Do you have any advice? Option 1. Demolish right back to the main house, rebuild garden walls and make good different flooring levels in the yard (I have no idea how to do that!) Option 2. Demolish single skin element back to old wash house, rebuild end wall of the old wash house and convert to utility room then rebuild garden walls and make good the yard. Option 3. Rebuild/ repair the bowing wall and roof. The garage wall forms the boundary with next door, so I believe I will need to follow party wall regulations. I also think that the level of their yard is slightly higher on their side of the wall than mine. Where do I start? All help and advice gratefully accepted!! Well I've just had a builder out to see it, he says it can't be repaired, will need to be taken down and completely rebuilt because of the lack of foundations, just as you said. I have taken your advice and have a structural engineer coming to see it tomorrow morning.....