ABSTRACT

This third edition of Understanding Housing Defects provides a coherent and comprehensive introduction to the causes, investigation and diagnosis of defects in housing.
Each of the eighteen chapters covers a specific building element and includes a brief introduction setting out construction principles and the evolution of current practice. Each chapter then goes on to look at the identification, cause and diagnosis of common (and sometimes not so common) defects.
The text has been revised and extended with new sections on boundary walls, chimneys and basements. The Services chapter has been replaced with three new, more substantial chapters on heating and plumbing, electrical installations and drainage.

chapter 1|24 pages

Building Movement – Foundations

chapter 2|24 pages

Building Movement – Walls

chapter 3|16 pages

The Investigation of Structural Defects

chapter 4|26 pages

Brickwork and Stonework

chapter 5|20 pages

Ground Floors

chapter 6|16 pages

Upper Floors

chapter 7|30 pages

Pitched Roofs

chapter 8|24 pages

Flat Roofs

chapter 9|12 pages

External Rendering

chapter 10|18 pages

Plastering and Plasterboard

chapter 11|10 pages

Internal Walls

chapter 12|18 pages

Timber Pests

chapter 13|16 pages

Condensation

chapter 14|22 pages

Damp

chapter 15|26 pages

System Building

chapter 16|12 pages

Water and Heating

chapter 17|12 pages

Drainage

chapter 18|8 pages

Electrical Installations