Where's the Wall Ties?! New Estate Fails Inspection

The NHBC (National House Building Council) carry out detailed inspections of new properties, in order to ensure everything has been built and finished to a safe, habitable standard. If inspectors discover any issues, the new properties are considered to have failed the inspection and must be brought up to standard before being deemed acceptable for habitation.

A new housing estate in South Wales recently fell foul of an NHBC inspection, which found that the timber frame wall ties in the properties were inadequate. The developers of the new estate got in touch with us here at Twistfix; our experts were quick to recommend one of our long-term, regular customers (NBS) as the best contractor to rectify the situation.

The new estate comprises 160 timber frame properties; these were found to be structurally unsound due to their brick facades being ineffectively secured to the frame. Instead, the facades had simply been nailed to adjacent plywood sheeting, necessitating the installation of high-quality timber frame wall ties.

Perhaps surprisingly, this is a common defect encountered with newly built timber frame properties; the main structure of the building effectively forms a self-contained frame discrete from an external brick facade. These two elements must be joined securely by installing timber frame wall ties at regular intervals; this ensures structural stability and prevents bricks falling away from the building and posing a health and safety hazard.

Contractors at NBS are highly experienced in this type of remedial work and make full use of the Twistfix product portfolio to facilitate their professional work. The company know that they can trust the consistent high quality of our diverse array of Twistfix materials, tools and ancillaries to get the job done and our specially engineered, self-tapping stainless steel wall ties are no exception to the rule.

Experts at NBS describe Twistfix timber frame wall ties as ‘incredibly efficient’ and as ‘the most flexible available on the market today’. CE Marked and fully compliant with all relevant health, safety and quality standards, the tried and tested wall ties provide an extremely secure connection between the brick facade and timber frame, with the added benefit of being an invisible remedy and thus not affecting the aesthetic of the new properties.

For all wall tie requirements, Twistfix is the name to trust. Discover more on our website.