On Jun 9, 10:53*pm, mo wrote:
Hi All

Wondering if anyone can give me tips with a small project.

I have an issue in my garden whereby I had a patio laid down, then had a
small brick wall built and then had some turf laid.

The issue is that the wall itself is a bit rubbish and is starting to
fall apart. Having spoken to a bricklayer by chance today he was
explaining to me about using breezeblocks to build a wall and then
covering with proper bricks or just rendering the whole thing.

I have decided I want to build a breezeblock wall that is maybe 2 -3
blocks high and 2 blocks out - which can then be used as seating

Current wall picture he

http://imageshack.us/g/577/img3028q.jpg/

I do not believe the grass/mud is putting any pressure on the wall
because it was filled in afterwards and is actually sloping away from
the wall.

My questions a

a) what is the best type of breeze block to use for this job? There are
so many

Forget the term breeze block - it means different things to different
people.
I would use dense concrete blocks - they are pretty heavy. They are a
light
grey colour. Definitely do NOT use aircrete (thermalite, celcon etc).


b) the bricklayer was explaining that you leave a gap beteen the blocks
(so sort of 2 walls) but you can put something in between them to make
it stronger - any ideas?

Build it like a narrow bathtub, and fill with concrete.


c) One problem I have with the patio is drainage, as you can see with
the current wall I have drilled a couple of holes on the floor level
which allows some water to go behind the wall into the mud. I would like
to make a better job of it this time - any ideas? I was thinking of
drilling some bigger holes into the bottom of the breezeblock and having
plastic piping going into the mud...

If you are draining from the patio through the wall onto the grass,
you can build in some square
ducting (e.g. square drainpipe) right though the wall.
Or put a drain on the patio side of the wall and pipe it to a soakaway
etc.
Whatever, make sure the patio slopes slightly towards the drain.


d) I plan to render the wall whe nfinished - any part that is visible -
but what about the back facing the mud - will it be OK left untouched or
will it need somesort of weatherproofing? bearing in my it could be wet
a lot of the time!

Dense blocks will be fine and can just be painted. Render is OK but
will not last forever with
freeze / thaw cycles in the winter.
Make sure a coping stone is on top, to stop water running down behind
the render.


Any other things I should consider?

I still think a brick wall can look better.
Use engineering bricks and a coping stone on top.

Either way, foundations are required. Dig a trench and fill with
concrete and build off that.
Really deeper the better. Down a foot would be nice.
If doing it with 2 sides and concrete infill, you can even build in
some rebar to link with the concrete
centre of the wall.

Many other possibilities.

Simon.