Subsidence, settlement and heave
Wire gabion baskets retaining the bank have split and stones have spilled. What design of that bank has the survey not replaced with a sentence about the wire?
The survey has not replaced the design of that bank with a sentence about the wire. Wire gabion baskets retaining the bank have split and stones have spilled, and that is the condition the inspection recorded. A gabion is a cage whose stone fill and whose size are a design, not a caption. The visit did not recalculate the bank, did not check how the baskets were founded, and did not specify a new cage. Spilled stone is evidence of a failed basket. It is not a replacement design.
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?
Gabions hold a slope by the mass of stone inside an intact wire mesh. When the mesh splits, the stone leaves and the basket stops acting as the unit that was placed there. The survey can say which baskets have burst and where the stone now lies. It cannot, from that view, state the original height, the batter, the foundation, or the stone grading, and it has not designed a repair. The sentence about the wire is a defect note. The bank’s design remains undescribed.
Pass the split baskets to a retaining-wall or geotechnical engineer if the bank supports the house, a path, or the neighbour’s ground. The solicitor can ask whether any design or guarantee for the gabions was supplied, and can keep that paper separate from the report. Do not treat spilled stone as a finished specification for new baskets. The inspection saw failed wire. It did not redesign the bank.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which baskets had split, and where had the stone spilled?
- Did you record a failed cage rather than a design for the bank?
- What of the basket foundations and the ground behind them was not seen?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the note as split wire and spilled stone, not a new design.
- Ask the solicitor whether any gabion design or guarantee exists.
- Instruct an engineer if the bank supports something you rely on.
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
If only one basket has split, is the bank still designed?
One split basket is still a failed cage, and the survey has not certified the others as a working design. It saw wire that had opened and stone that had left. It did not calculate the bank or inspect every buried face. The remaining baskets were not redesigned by surviving the day of the visit.
Can the spilled stone simply be put back in the same wire?
The survey has not said that. Stone on the ground shows the basket no longer holds it. Putting it back into split wire is a repair idea the inspection did not design and did not approve. The report recorded the failure. It did not replace the bank’s design with a method for refilling the cage.