About this site
About Barnet Subsidence and how enquiries work
This page sets out what happens when you use this site. You will find out who reads your enquiry, why the information here focuses on Barnet, and what to expect once you describe the problem with your home.
Why this site exists
A crack in a wall or a door that sticks can be hard to interpret. Homeowners in Barnet often search for answers and find general advice that does not apply to the ground beneath their street. London clay, old brickfields, leaking drains and mature trees all behave differently depending on where you live.
Barnet Subsidence gathers local information about these causes so you can read about them before deciding what to do. The pages cover specific streets, soil types and building styles found across the borough. Reading about your particular situation helps you describe the problem more clearly when you decide to ask for help.
The site does not carry out surveys or repairs. It collects enquiries from people who have noticed movement or cracking in their homes and passes those details to specialist firms operating in Barnet.
How enquiries are handled
When you fill in the form, the details go to firms that specialise in subsidence work. These are separate businesses. They employ their own surveyors, engineers and ground workers, and they operate under their own insurance and terms.
Each firm decides independently whether to take on a job, what method to use and what to charge. Some handle resin injection. Others focus on underpinning or screw piling. The right firm depends on what is happening to your home, the type of soil underneath it and the construction of the building itself.
Because the specialists work on their own account, they set their own schedules and prices. You deal directly with the firm that picks up your enquiry. Barnet Subsidence has no further involvement once the details are passed on. This keeps the process straightforward: you describe the problem, a relevant specialist receives the information, and they contact you to discuss the next steps.
Local knowledge matters in Barnet
Barnet sits on varied ground. Parts of the borough rest on London clay, which shrinks in dry weather and swells when wet. Other areas were built over former clay pits or brickfields, leaving made ground that settles unevenly over decades.
Streets in Finchley, Hendon and Edgware contain large numbers of 1930s semi-detached houses with shallow foundations. Mill Hill and Childs Hill sit on slopes where gravity and drainage patterns add to the risk of movement. Cockfosters and Totteridge have heavy tree cover, and tree roots extracting moisture from clay is a frequent cause of subsidence in those areas.
The writing on this site reflects these local conditions. Rather than offering generic guidance, the pages address the specific reasons houses move in each part of the borough. This means the information you read applies to the ground your home actually stands on, making it easier to understand what might be causing the cracks you have noticed.
What the specialist firms do
The firms that receive enquiries carry out the physical work. A structural surveyor visits the home to examine the cracking, measure any distortion and determine the cause. They check drains, look at nearby trees and assess the foundations.
If the problem requires intervention, the specialist selects a method suited to the building and the ground. Underpinning strengthens existing foundations by extending them deeper into stable soil. Resin injection fills voids beneath floor slabs and compacts loose ground without excavation. Screw piling drives steel piles through unstable layers to reach load-bearing strata below.
For cracked concrete floors, the repair approach depends on whether the slab has simply settled or is still moving. Monitoring equipment tracks crack width over several months so the specialist knows whether the movement has stopped before starting permanent repairs. Every decision rests with the firm doing the work, based on what they find during their inspection.
What happens after you send an enquiry
You describe the problem with your home using the form. After that, the process moves to the specialist firms who handle the investigation and any necessary repairs.
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Step 1
Your details are received
The information you provide about your home, the cracking you have seen and your location in Barnet is logged and prepared for review by specialist firms.
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Step 2
A specialist reviews the enquiry
A firm that handles the type of work your home may need looks at the details. They assess whether they cover your area and if the problem fits their expertise.
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Step 3
They contact you directly
The specialist calls or emails you to ask further questions or arrange a visit. From this point, you deal only with them about surveys, methods and costs.
How this site operates
Barnet Subsidence takes enquiries from homeowners and passes them to separate specialist firms. Those firms carry out inspections, quote for work and complete repairs entirely on their own account.
- No surveys or repairs are carried out by this site
- Specialist firms set their own prices and schedules independently
- You deal directly with the firm that contacts you about your home
- Sending an enquiry does not commit you to any work or payment
Describe what you have noticed
Send the details of the cracking or movement you have spotted. Your enquiry goes to specialist firms working in Barnet. Submitting it does not oblige you to accept any offer or proceed with repairs.
- No obligation to proceed
- No payment required here
- Direct contact from specialists