Crumbling Bricks

[arm74]

I have enclosed pictures that show you the problem that I'm having on my house wall, need a solution that's not too expensive

IMG_3404.JPGIMG_3405.JPG

[GastonJ]

Render it.

[maca]

Before you even think of rendering it you need to seal it as those bricks have blown .

[gmb45]

thats not going to be cheap either way ffs, you can only replace bricks so many at a time, you cant just chop oot all the knackered bricks in one go or the hoose will fall doon, i forget the dimensions but its something like 6ft at the bottom going up to a point ( but dont quote me on that ) you need to get a builder in who's reputable.

[arm74]

Thanks for the quick responses.. Got 2 builders booked for Saturday for a couple of quotes, will let you guys know at the weekend

[Meat-Head]

Thiughy you can chopiut 1 meter, then rebuild, then do another.

or work out the limit, chop iut, leave open plan

[arm74]

Right I've had a builder yesterday and he says that the neighbours floor is not level so the water runs into the bricks, however he will concrete the wall and leave a lip so that it can run the water away, looking at ?2000 for all that, is this something I should do

[Meat-Head]

Get two other quotes from other thick builders
then choose the one who is a dk member

?2k sounds a lot of just slapping concrete on exsisting bricks?

[arm74]

Got another one coming tuesday

[arm74]

How much to concrete a wall.. It's about 17mtrs

[ifred]

The reason the bricks are spalling is because they are old soft Victorian brick the pointing has been done in modern cement!!!
Old house should only be repointed with lime mortar concreting over the brick will only make matter worse
link below to some information from a survey who knows old houses
Any builder who doesn't know this don't let him near the house

NB you can for about ?50 do the job yourselves buy a tub of lime putty bags of sand 1:3 mix rake out repoint surface will have to stay as is! Replacing the brick is more difficult, what you don't want is the brick degrading more from the trapped moisture from the modern cement. Hiding the damage could compromise the foundation.
http://www.heritage-house.org/brick-and-stone.html

[ifred]

Right I've had a builder yesterday and he says that the neighbours floor is not level so the water runs into the bricks, however he will concrete the wall and leave a lip so that it can run the water away, looking at ?2000 for all that, is this something I should do

the whole planet isn't level unless your a flat earth believer?
?2000 what's that a gold plated wall!! Bet he shook his head grimaced a few times ....the more the bigger the price I'd expect ?500 but as above post I wouldn't do it that way

[arm74]

Thanks for the info, It's very difficult for me as I'm getting different solutions, However I was told to wire brush all the old bits and re-mortar

[Meat-Head]

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[ifred]

Thanks for the info, It's very difficult for me as I'm getting different solutions, However I was told to wire brush all the old bits and re-mortar

understood most builder won't touch lime mortar as its more difficult to use in that it take longer to set and won't mix so easily in a normal mixer.
The wall was originally built with lime mortar The old bricks were more porous that modern post 1930 bricks, they get wet and dry out the lime mortar allowed the water to escape trough the brick and lime cement joint. Modern waterproof quick drying cement will not breath in the same way so the brick stays damp the frost blows the surface of the brick of "Spalling" the inner core is softer than the lost skin however if the brick remain sodden wet the brick will overtime crumble away serious problem!!

Historically builder before 1930 used the right materials for the brick since then the wrong things have been done thousands of properties have been damaged some terminally by quick fix "wally" builders

My guess is that you have what you think is rising damp in the house - Peter on the link I gave on other video shows the con of rising damp

The SPAB give advise on the best approach

http://www.spab.org.uk/advice/technical-qas/technical-qa-2-brickwork/

I still think you can fix yourself for small money and so time also learn a lot of how to maintain your older property saving yourself big bills later on from inappropriate work


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