Subsidence, settlement and heave
A tie bar crosses a bowing gable and nobody checked its tension. What restraint has not been measured?
The restraint of the tie bar has not been measured. A tie bar crosses a bowing gable and nobody checked its tension, so the rod may be tight, slack or doing nothing, and the survey did not say which. A tie bar is meant to hold a bulging wall back toward the rest of the building, usually with plates on the face. Seeing the bar and the bow records that someone once tried to restrain the gable and that the wall is still out of plane. It does not measure the force in the bar. That restraint is unmeasured.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Tension is what makes a tie bar a restraint rather than a piece of metal crossing a room. Plates can be painted, loose, or buried in render, and the bar can have been slack for years while the bow remained. The survey saw the arrangement. It did not tighten anything, did not test the anchorage in the opposite wall, and did not measure how far the gable is out of plumb. The bow is a condition. The help the bar is giving, if any, was not quantified.
Tell a lender the gable bows, a tie bar is present, and its tension was not checked, so the restraint is unmeasured. If the wall must be understood, instruct a structural inspection that includes the bar and the bow. Do not describe the gable as held because the rod is there. Presence is not tension, and this visit did not pretend that it was.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was the tension in the tie bar checked?
- Has the restraint of the bowing gable been measured?
- Are the plates and the far anchorage part of that unchecked restraint?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the tie-bar restraint as unmeasured.
- Tell a lender the bow was seen and the tension was not checked.
- Instruct a structural inspection if the gable must be understood.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Does a painted plate mean the bar is still working?
No. Paint shows maintenance of the plate, or an attempt to hide it. It does not show tension in the rod or a sound anchorage. The survey did not check tension. A tidy plate can sit on a slack bar. Leave the restraint unmeasured rather than reading the decoration.
Can the bow be reported as historic and finished?
Not from this visit. A bow with an unchecked tie bar may be old, and it may still be moving. The survey did not monitor it and did not measure the restraint. Historic appearance is not a completed movement study. Say the gable is out of plane and the bar's tension is unknown.