Resources
Engineering guides, written by engineers.
The questions we answer every week - surveys, cracks, approvals, drainage falls - written up properly, so you can make informed decisions before you ever pick up the phone.
Drainage Falls Calculator
Convert between fall, run and gradient instantly - 1:40, 1:80 or any ratio - with worked examples and honest limits. Free, no sign-up.
Structural Engineering
Guides to what structural engineers do, when you need one, what it costs and how calculations and Building Control approvals work.
What does a structural engineer do?
Surveys, calculations, design and approvals - the job explained in plain English.
Do I need a structural engineer?
A practical checklist: the jobs that need an engineer, and the ones that don't.
How much does a structural engineer cost?
What drives the price of calculations, surveys and design - and how fixed fees work.
Floor joist sizes and spans: a practical UK guide
Common sizes, realistic spans, and when a floor needs proper engineering.
What is a padstone, and when do you need one?
The small block that stops a big beam crushing your wall - explained.
Do I need a structural engineer for an extension?
Almost always yes - and the useful question is when, not whether.
Do I need a structural engineer for a loft conversion?
Yes - and the roof type you have decides how big the job is.
Structural engineer or architect: who does what?
Two different jobs on the same project. Which one you need, and when.
What 'chartered' means for a structural engineer, and how to check
Anyone can call themselves a structural engineer. Not everyone can call themselves chartered.
Structural Surveys
Surveys, reports, cracking and movement - explained by the engineers who inspect them.
What is a structural survey - and what does it include?
What's inspected, what the report includes, and how it differs from a RICS survey.
Cracks in walls: what causes them, and when are they serious?
Most cracks are harmless. Here's how engineers tell which ones aren't.
Do I need a structural survey when buying a house?
When a purchase needs an engineer, and how to arrange one without losing time.
How to tell if a wall is load-bearing (and what removal costs)
The tell-tale signs, the walls that fool people, and honest removal costs.
How much does a structural survey cost?
Typical prices, what changes them, and how fixed quotes work.
Structural survey vs homebuyer report vs Level 3: which do you need?
Three different products, three different professions, one very confused set of names.
Structural engineer or chartered surveyor: who do you actually need?
Two professions, two different questions. Which one answers yours.
Who pays for a structural engineer's report - the buyer or the seller?
The default answer, the exceptions, and when paying anyway is the cheaper option.
Structural surveys on Victorian and older property
What is normal for the age, and what is not. Most of it is normal.
What happens after a structural survey finds a problem?
What the findings actually mean, and what you do with them.
How long does a structural survey take?
The visit, the report, and what to do when you have a deadline.
Structural Problems
Cracks, movement, floors, chimneys and subsidence - what is normal, what is not, and how to tell.
Removing a chimney breast: do you need a structural engineer?
Yes - and here is exactly why, plus what to do if a previous owner didn't.
Cracked chimney breast: what it means and when it matters
Chimneys crack for several reasons. Only some of them matter.
Bouncy and springy floors: why it happens and whether it matters
A floor that bounces is usually stiff enough to be safe and too flexible to be pleasant. The difference matters.
Sloping and uneven floors: when it is age and when it is movement
Almost every old house has sloping floors. The question is whether yours is still moving.
Mining subsidence and made ground in Yorkshire: the region's real ground risk
Why national subsidence advice does not fit a Yorkshire house - and what does.
Settlement, subsidence, heave and landslip: the differences that matter
Four different mechanisms, four different remedies. One of them is usually 'nothing'.
Wall tie failure: the honest diagnosis
Regular horizontal cracking has a distinctive cause - and a distinctive commercial problem.
Horizontal cracks in walls: what they mean
A short list of causes, running from cosmetic to genuinely serious.
Cracks above windows and doors: lintel failure explained
Cracking above an opening usually has one cause, and it is directly above it.
Sticking doors and windows: seasonal or structural?
The distinction nobody makes: seasonal movement reverses, structural movement does not.
Coal mining risk assessments explained
What it is, when planning requires one, and why it is not the same as the search your solicitor did.
Stone terraces: what moves, what does not, and what it means
Stone does not fail like brick, and reading it as if it did gets the answer wrong twice.
Back-to-back houses: a structural guide
Three shared walls, one external wall, and a set of consequences nobody explains.
Post-war system-built and concrete houses
Non-traditional construction, mortgageability, and why the question is rarely about cracking.
Do I need underpinning? Usually not, and here is why
Underpinning is a remedy for a diagnosed foundation problem - not a default response to cracking.
Roof spread and sagging roofs: what is happening and when it matters
A pitched roof is a triangle. When the bottom of the triangle stops holding, the roof pushes the walls apart.
Planning & Building Regulations
The approvals system explained: planning permission, Building Regulations, and the difference.
Drainage & Civil
Falls, gradients, SuDS and flood risk - practical guidance plus our falls calculator.
Drainage falls explained: 1:40, 1:80 and minimum gradients
1:40, 1:80, mm per metre - the arithmetic and the rules, with worked examples.
SuDS and flood risk assessments: what planning actually requires
When applications need a SuDS strategy or FRA, and how the conditions get discharged.
Contour lines explained: reading site levels like an engineer
What the lines mean, how to read them, and why levels drive drainage and foundations.
Flood zones 1, 2 and 3 explained: what they mean for your project
What each zone means, how to check yours, and what planning will ask for.
Extensions & Alterations
The engineering behind extensions, loft conversions and open-plan alterations.
Building Regulations for extensions: what approval involves
What an extension application involves, from structural design to completion certificate.
Removing load-bearing walls: how open-plan is done safely
What the wall is doing, what replaces it, and the approval that makes it legal.
Loft conversion costs UK: a structural engineer's guide
Realistic costs by conversion type, and the structural work hiding inside every quote.
Let’s discuss
your project.
Get practical advice and a clear quote from our experienced engineering team.
Experienced Engineers
Decades of expertise across residential, commercial and civil engineering.
Clear Communication
We keep you informed at every stage of your project.
Practical Solutions
Engineering that is buildable, compliant and cost-effective.
Call us: 0113 519 0839
Email us: info@resolvestructural.co.uk