1st Associated have Independent Surveyors who cover the whole of the UK, providing building surveys, commercial surveys, engineers reports, property training plus more.

Contact today for a free, no obligation quotations, including building surveys, structural surveys, homebuyers reports, engineers reports and pre sales reports

 

Jeff Howell retrained as a teacher,

or should we say university lecturer?

That key moment, the Herefordshire job and segmental arches

It may not have been the key moment but it is certainly something that Jeff Howell recalls being a frustrating moment that fascinated him for many years! It happened on a job in Herefordshire where a segmental arch was being built - a brick arch where each brick sits against the next, holding their own weight. This technique is many thousands of years old. (For those of you wanting to know more about old brickwork we suggest you view Dr Gerard Lynch website Brickmaster.co.uk and even better visiting one of his excellent lectures).

Back to the key moment – the Herefordshire job and segmental arches and then Building Control arrived (the Local Authorities regulators) who decided that this technique which had been around for thousands of years was no longer good enough and they wanted the arch to incorporate stainless steel ties, bedded in a mass concrete lintel, to stop it from falling down! For Jeff Howell this was a clear example of those in authority not understanding the techniques or materials of construction.

Retrained as a teacher or should we say university lecturer?

Gordon Brown once said that he wanted to get rid of the boom and bust economy. It was during an earlier boom and bust cycle and the uncertain nature in the building industry that Jeff Howell looked to retrain as a teacher, which ultimately led to a part time job at Hackney College teaching building science. This was the era of the Evening Classes of ONCs and HNCs (Ordinary and Higher National Certificates) and many who toiled away working all day went on in the evenings to get these qualifications, and having done this found it character building!

This in turn led to a full time lecturing position at Vauxhall College, in Building Science and Construction which ultimately led to a position at Southbank Polytechnic which then, via the help of John Major, became London South Bank University.

Have you seen the film Spinal Tap with a rating of eleven out of ten?

Jeff Howell commented that Polytechnics being made into Universities changed them from a ten to an eleven, a comment that we did not understand but which he explained was a reference to the film Spinal Tap.

Things happening at university

In the late 1980s to the mid 1990s universities were very much encouraged to do research.

To remind those who were not around in this era this is what was happening at this time:-

1980 John Lennon Shot Dead

1982 Falklands Conflict between Britain and Argentina

1984 Live Aid Concerts

1987 The Channel Tunnel is started

1994 Digital Cameras (also the first recorded case of SPAM, interestingly enough, sent out by an Arizonian law company)

1994 The Channel Tunnel is opened

1997 Death of Princess Diana

Late 1990s British Property Boom

Jeff Howell's Research

Jeff Howell's research, which is well documented in his books, went down the path of looking at problems with dampness in walls. Jeff Howell's research was inspired by his trouble with moisture meters being used when they were not actually measuring moisture but were measuring electric conductivity. All this can be read about in The Rising Damp Myth, which led to him researching this issue and publishing papers worldwide. As well as having papers published in academic journals and appearing at international conferences Jeff Howell also started to have articles published in trade magazines and remembers his first paid article in The Building Engineer published by the Association of Building Engineers.

Please see following articles on party walls which may be of interest to you:

Party Wall Basics

Party Wall Who's Who

Party Wall Surveyors Being Unreasonable

Party Walls Look Like This 

Jeff Howell of course has limited time due to other commitments and we will arrange another surveyor with your approval if he is not available.

Please see following relevant articles:

French Drains

Dampness in Buildings, The Basics

Dampness, a Different View

Damp Walls

Condensation and Cold Bridging

Independent builidng surveyors

If you truly do want an independent expert opinion from a surveyor with regard to building surveys, structural surveys, structural reports, engineers reports, specific defects report, dilapidations or any other property matters please contact via our website 1stAssociated.co.uk or telephone us on 0800 298 5424 for a surveyor to give you a call back.

We hope you found the article of use and if you have any experiences that you feel should be added to this article that would benefit others, or you feel that some of the information that we have put is wrong then please do not hesitate to contact us (we are only human).

The contents of the website are for general information only and is not intended to be relied upon for specific or general decisions. Appropriate independent professional advice should be paid for before making such a decision.

All rights are reserved the contents of the website are not to be reproduced or transmitted in any form in whole or part without the express written permission of 1stassociated.com