Foundation exploration confirms type of foundations needed

It's the end of the first week of the house extension build (demolition).

We hit a minor problem with how the house foundations need to be put down for the extension.

As the extension will bear the weight of the side of the house, the building regulations for the type of foundations required are crucial.

Long story short, the structural engineer has to specify the type of foundations needed which then require approval by the local (Poole borough council) building control department.

This has caused a delay of several days of work but is a common scenario. Until the foundations have been excavated and explored - the type of foundations cannot be determined.

These photos show the hole used to examine the existing foundations of the house.

This photo shows that water is now below the depth at which it is able to soak through permeable earth. At the depth the water is now, the ground does not allow it to soak away.

Excavation, drainage and foundation exploration

To the excitement of the children, a small excavator arrived to begin excavation and exploration of our house foundations.

The builders and building inspector need to understand the depth to which the extension foundations need to be dug.

Now that the existing house foundations can be examined, the building inspector will arrive and determine the depth to which the house extension foundations need to be dug. This also takes into consideration the type of trees within proximity of where the foundations will be dug.

If certain types of trees are within x metres, because they can take in excess of 100 litres out of the ground per day, this directly affects the type of foundations required on a house extension or new build.

This should be possible, if it stops raining! I think it's rained all day here today.

The pictures below show the house foundation exploration and a raised 'soak away' drainage pipe.