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Stabilising a period home in Essex from decades of clay shrinkage

Challenge

A 1920s home on shrink-swell clay, near a large oak tree, suffered from long-term seasonal movement and failing superficial repairs, requiring a non-disruptive, permanent solution.

Solution

Our expert team injected engineered geopolymer to a depth of 1.5m along an 18m treatment zone, completing the non-disruptive ground improvement in just 2.5 days.

2.5 days

Time on-site

53%

Carbon reduction versus traditional underpinning

0

Need for excavation or for the homeowner to move out

A history of clay shrinkage

The owner of a 1920s brick home in Hockley, Essex, was dealing with a long history of seasonal ground movement. Like many properties in the area built on clay soils, the home had historical issues dating back to the 1970s.

Around 25 years ago, a significant cracking issue was addressed with only superficial repairs, like re-rendering and plastering. With these fixes failing to solve the root cause and insurance cover no longer in place, the homeowner needed a permanent solution to stabilise the ground and protect their home's structure.

Challenge

The homeowner faced the persistent stress of seasonal movement, with interior doors and finishes being constantly affected. The challenge was complex: the property sits on shrink-swell clay and is located close to a large oak tree, which is known to worsen soil desiccation.
 
The home’s history of clay heave and a complex layout of buried utilities meant any solution had to be carefully planned to minimise risk to the existing infrastructure. They needed a solution that avoided the massive disruption of traditional underpinning. 
 

The client noted

We took a long while to make our minds up to actually spend the money because it’s not cheap, but we felt that the professionalism and the way they went about the work convinced us that we’d made the right choice.

Solution

We proposed a ground improvement solution using our engineered geopolymer injection method. The treatment plan involved injecting the material beneath the foundations to a depth of 1.5m along an 18-metre treatment zone, covering both external and internal walls. 
 
The entire process was completed by our expert team in just two and a half days with minimal disruption. This allowed the homeowner to avoid the weeks of excavation and chaos associated with traditional underpinning.
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Results

The Geobear solution provided significant, measurable benefits compared to the traditional alternative of mass concrete underpinning.
 
Time saving: Our team was on-site for 2.5 days. A traditional underpinning project for a similar property would have taken
3–6 weeks (15–30 working days), not including the time to reinstate floors and finishes.

Carbon saving: According to an independent assessment, our solution for this project generated just 2.73 tonnes of CO₂e.
 
A comparable traditional project would have produced approximately 5.81 tonnes of CO₂e. This represents a carbon saving of around
3.08 tonnes CO₂e, or 53% lower emissions.
 
These savings were achieved by completely avoiding excavation and reducing the use of carbon-intensive materials like concrete and steel. 

Worried about clay soil and subsidence?

Our fast, non-disruptive solution is proven to solve subsidence from clay shrinkage.

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