The Building Control Inspector isn’t happy. ‘What’s this bush?’ he asked. If it’s any kind of laurel, he’s insisting on foundations 2.5m deep 😯

We don’t think it’s a laurel anyway and if it’s an issue we’ll rip it out anyway, but I’m sure someone on here will be able to ID it!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/ykeeEq]Untitled[/url] by -Cheesyfeet-, on Flickr

Thanks

It looks like a type of Euonymus to me

can’t see any of the twigs but if you google variegated laurel there’s a fair few examples that are pretty close to that…

Don’t rip it out. Leaf it alone.

Have you tried resting on it?

Think Bruce is right?

https://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Euonymus_japonicus_ovatus_aureum.html

I don’t think it is a Eunoymus, the leaves are much closer together and ‘bushy’ on a Euonymus, this looks more spaced.

Unfortunately I think it could be Prunus lusitanica varigata – which is a form of laurel (Portugese Laurel) 🙁 hopefully I am wrong…

EDIT: The stems of a Euonymus are a similar colour to the leaf. The stems on a Prunus are tinged red… that should help identify it.

portuguese varigated laurel

If you’re on sandy/gravelly/rocky ground, tell him he’s talking out his arse. If you’re on clay, er… Still tell him he’s talking out his arse. Unless it’s laurus nobilis, and probably even if it is (which it’s not), it’s never going to bother modern foundations. What if you had no plants or trees when you built something and planted them afterwards? Would you need to underpin your existing foundations? Of course not, bloody tick-box regulations.
This probably hasn’t helped.

Tell building control that you will be piling down to bedrock and installing a ring beam!

If he says you’re talking rubbish, tell him he started it.

From many years of experience I think you might find you’re **** once he’s got the bit between his teeth. He’ll probably start talking clay plasticity and the use of clay boards. However depending on the ground he can’t just pluck a figure of 2.5m out of the air. Trial hole time and engineer may be cheaper I’d say.

Right, thanks all. The bush issue has now gone away.

A sewer issue has arisen though, which is entirely more of a ballache to sort out and will no doubt end up costing us quite a bit 😥

Enlighten us please. Been working on the drains all day.

The work we are having done takes us to within 3m of a shared domestic sewer. Currently talking to the water company, but worst case is we might have to take the foundations down as much as 3.5 meters 😯

All for a pretty short wall with a window and door in it. Fact fact the next doors extension goes right over the top of it and appears to just be sitting on a ‘fact’ of concrete is neither here nor there. Either way it’s delays and expense. Doesn’t help I’m off to Korea tomorrow for a few days.

Why does running within 3m of a drainage run require you to go 3.5m on founds. You obviously appreciate that the concrete alone will cost you 160/180 quid for every linear metre alone.

Our local water authority needs you to go 100mm below the sewer within 1m and then at a depth that would put a line 100mm below at 45degrees within 3m. If the sewer is deep for some reason then it would be a deep hole (although 3.5m is very deep unless on quite a slope)

We wait and see. the sewer is about 2.5+m deep, this is looking like worst case. Will see what the water company say

Weird, my neighbour has just had an extension finished which is within 50cm of a shared sewer (it runs down the length of the house) and their foundations were standard 1.2m for 2 storey.

The depth of the foundation may be affected by the depth of the sewer, ordinarily the water authority and building regs guidance will require you to go at least as deep as the invert level of the sewer (presuming the sewer is deeper than standard foundation depth for the ground conditions).

Deep sewers =deep foundations.

Search ‘build over agreement’ on here, there was a thread the other week that covered all this in detail.

Rip out and replace with a backdrop may be a cheaper option if it’s feasible.

Wrightyson; STW groundworks guru!

Sewer actually runs under Next doors house, so it’s staying put!

It’ll be to prevent the force of your extension creating a potential risk of overpressure on the sewer. Since pressure ‘radiates’ out at generally 45 degrees from the base of your supporting structure, you need to build down to the lowest level of the sewer so the force projects under it rather than through it.