My back garden is about 2ft higher than the neighbour's, a retaining wall
divides the two. The bottom courses are blue brick, the upper courses are a
rather sandy decorative brick. I've just found out that part of the bottom
course of decoratives are severely damaged on my neighbours side and need
replacing. This is because my garden slopes slightly from left to right
putting these bricks below ground level on my side, causing them to be wet
and spall on the open (neighbours) side. I also now know that I own this
wall outright (;-)

1) Is there such a thing as quick setting mortar?. I've got quite a length
to drill out & replace, the idea is to have the mortar set almost as quick
as I can go along the wall.(so the wall won't fall down!).

2) I can't easily remove the original problem of wet soil behing decorative
bricks (it's complicated...). So the new bricks need to be moisture/frost
proof. I could use blues. But, I wondered if could somehow frost proof (new)
decoratve originals, perhaps by soaking in some clear sealant or DPC stuff
or painting with liquid DPM (except out-facing side!). This would keep a
full course of the same bricks for appearance, if that matters.

3) Where the problem isn't too bad but bricks might be vulnerable in future,
remembering that the underground part of the bricks will be in the wet,
would injecting chemical DPC into these bricks prevent future spalling?.

4) Finally can anyone suggest a good online brick library with I can track
down the 1970's bricks I need.

Justin.

Justin wrote:
My back garden is about 2ft higher than the neighbour's, a retaining wall
divides the two. The bottom courses are blue brick, the upper courses are a
rather sandy decorative brick. I've just found out that part of the bottom
course of decoratives are severely damaged on my neighbours side and need
replacing. This is because my garden slopes slightly from left to right
putting these bricks below ground level on my side, causing them to be wet
and spall on the open (neighbours) side. I also now know that I own this
wall outright (;-)


If it's on your neighbours side then what do you care? ;-)

If it's only holding up 2ft of soil then chances are that you could
remove most of it and the soil will stay where it is, unless it's
particularly sandy.
bricks are rated for frost resistancy so if replacing go for a high
rated brick. ...or you could just render the whole lot.

I googled a lot for bricks recently and there are sites with pictures.
Mine turned out to be LBC/Hanson bricks but I had a head start 'cos the
bricks have "LBC" in the frogs.

Justin wrote:
My back garden is about 2ft higher than the neighbour's, a retaining
wall divides the two. The bottom courses are blue brick, the upper
courses are a rather sandy decorative brick. I've just found out that
part of the bottom course of decoratives are severely damaged on my
neighbours side and need replacing. This is because my garden slopes
slightly from left to right putting these bricks below ground level
on my side, causing them to be wet and spall on the open (neighbours)
side. I also now know that I own this wall outright (;-)

1) Is there such a thing as quick setting mortar?. I've got quite a
length to drill out & replace, the idea is to have the mortar set
almost as quick as I can go along the wall.(so the wall won't fall
down!).


The general idea is to remove about 4 bricks at a time and replace 3, do
this in a few sections, then the following day, do the sections you missed,
this metod can also be used to install a plastic DPC in a house wall, if
anyone is interested, obviously the DPC goes in in pieces and is
overlapped....you don't need a DPC in your wall BTW!

2) I can't easily remove the original problem of wet soil behing
decorative bricks (it's complicated...). So the new bricks need to be
moisture/frost proof. I could use blues. But, I wondered if could
somehow frost proof (new) decoratve originals, perhaps by soaking in
some clear sealant or DPC stuff or painting with liquid DPM (except
out-facing side!). This would keep a full course of the same bricks
for appearance, if that matters.

If it's taken 30 years for them to get so bad that they need replacing, just
use normal bricks, either you or your neighbour will probably be dead before
they need doing again.

3) Where the problem isn't too bad but bricks might be vulnerable in
future, remembering that the underground part of the bricks will be
in the wet, would injecting chemical DPC into these bricks prevent
future spalling?.

Why not just use blues? - nothing you put on it will prevent spalling,
normal water penetration isn't a problem, it's the frost that causes
spalling and you can't stop either with chemicals because the water is ever
present and goes in through the part of the brick you can't see.


4) Finally can anyone suggest a good online brick library with I can
track down the 1970's bricks I need.

Justin.

Even iof you buy the exact same ones, they won't match

Sorry I didn't make it clear that this wall is about 4ft 6 high on my side,
7ft high from the lower ground level thus retaining about 2ft 6 of soil. I
wouldn't want this to come down during the work!. I'd thought of doing it in
sections, though given the poor state of the bricks no more than 2-3 at a
time. I really want to take two out first (AB), put in (A) then take out (C)
then put in (B) etc all along the line. This seems easier as it's much
easier to drill out & replace bricks if they are not completely enclosed.
Hence quick-set mortar plea for help - is such stuff viable and available?.

Yes obviously this wall doesn't need a DPC. I was thinking if the suspect
bricks had DPC chemicals injected, well into the depth of the brick (middle
or even further back), this might stop water penetrating the brick from the
back to the front and might check the spalling. But it was just a thought.

Because water is coming from the back, rendering the brick faces will have
the reverse of the desired effect of keeping water away from the brick, and
would the render be a violation of my neighbours territorial airspace?.

Justin.

Justin wrote:
Sorry I didn't make it clear that this wall is about 4ft 6 high on my
side, 7ft high from the lower ground level thus retaining about 2ft 6
of soil. I wouldn't want this to come down during the work!. I'd
thought of doing it in sections, though given the poor state of the
bricks no more than 2-3 at a time. I really want to take two out
first (AB), put in (A) then take out (C) then put in (B) etc all
along the line. This seems easier as it's much easier to drill out &
replace bricks if they are not completely enclosed. Hence quick-set
mortar plea for help - is such stuff viable and available?.


No, and if there is, it doesn't work...if you do it this way, it's akin to
taking the whole course out at once because there will be no strength left
in the base of the wall until it all sets, hence my reccomendation to take
out 3 or 4 and replace 2 or 3, leaving one out for a start the following
day.

Yes obviously this wall doesn't need a DPC. I was thinking if the
suspect bricks had DPC chemicals injected, well into the depth of the
brick (middle or even further back), this might stop water
penetrating the brick from the back to the front and might check the
spalling. But it was just a thought.

Because water is coming from the back, rendering the brick faces will
have the reverse of the desired effect of keeping water away from the
brick, and would the render be a violation of my neighbours
territorial airspace?.

Not unless he's a solicitor :-p

Rendering the bottom few feet may be the easiest and simplest solution, yes
you are trapping water inside the bricks, but you are protecting the bricks
and the water from frost...if you decide to do this, give the wall a few
coats of PVA before rendering, and remove any loose brick or mortar
material, use a 3:1 sand /cement mix and give it two coats...you can paint
it with masonry paint after it's dried to give it a more acceptable finish.

No, and if there is, it doesn't work...if you do it this way, it's akin to
taking the whole course out at once because there will be no strength left
in the base of the wall until it all sets

The logic of the original idea was...

1) Is there such a thing as quick setting mortar?. I've got quite a length
to drill out & replace, the idea is to have the mortar set almost as quick
as I can go along the wall.(so the wall won't fall down!).

... but you may well be right about quick-set mortar not being a viable
thing.

Justin.

Justin wrote:
No, and if there is, it doesn't work...if you do it this way, it's
akin to taking the whole course out at once because there will be no
strength left in the base of the wall until it all sets

The logic of the original idea was...

1) Is there such a thing as quick setting mortar?. I've got quite a
length to drill out & replace, the idea is to have the mortar set
almost as quick as I can go along the wall.(so the wall won't fall
down!).

.. but you may well be right about quick-set mortar not being a
viable thing.

Only in cartoons I'm afraid.

Justin wrote:
Sorry I didn't make it clear that this wall is about 4ft 6 high on my side,
7ft high from the lower ground level thus retaining about 2ft 6 of soil. I
wouldn't want this to come down during the work!. I'd thought of doing it in
sections, though given the poor state of the bricks no more than 2-3 at a
time. I really want to take two out first (AB), put in (A) then take out (C)
then put in (B) etc all along the line. This seems easier as it's much
easier to drill out & replace bricks if they are not completely enclosed.
Hence quick-set mortar plea for help - is such stuff viable and available?.

Yes obviously this wall doesn't need a DPC. I was thinking if the suspect
bricks had DPC chemicals injected, well into the depth of the brick (middle
or even further back), this might stop water penetrating the brick from the
back to the front and might check the spalling. But it was just a thought.

Because water is coming from the back, rendering the brick faces will have
the reverse of the desired effect of keeping water away from the brick, and
would the render be a violation of my neighbours territorial airspace?.

Justin.


leave a few gaps in it next time for water to drain out.

In article , Phil L
writes
Justin wrote:
No, and if there is, it doesn't work...if you do it this way, it's
akin to taking the whole course out at once because there will be no
strength left in the base of the wall until it all sets

The logic of the original idea was...

1) Is there such a thing as quick setting mortar?. I've got quite a
length to drill out & replace, the idea is to have the mortar set
almost as quick as I can go along the wall.(so the wall won't fall
down!).

.. but you may well be right about quick-set mortar not being a
viable thing.

Only in cartoons I'm afraid.

I've a bag of Supamix quick setting cement here, "Set & serviceable in 30
minutes", any reason that won't do for mortar? Trouble is it's only a 1kg
bag and from memory 3quid for that but I'm sure there will be bigger (more
cost effective) bags available. Bought from Buy&Q.
--
fred
Plusnet - I hope you like vanilla

"Justin" wrote in message
...
My back garden is about 2ft higher than the neighbour's, a retaining wall
divides the two. The bottom courses are blue brick, the upper courses are
a
rather sandy decorative brick. I've just found out that part of the bottom
course of decoratives are severely damaged on my neighbours side and need
replacing. This is because my garden slopes slightly from left to right
putting these bricks below ground level on my side, causing them to be wet
and spall on the open (neighbours) side. I also now know that I own this
wall outright (;-)

1) Is there such a thing as quick setting mortar?. I've got quite a length
to drill out & replace, the idea is to have the mortar set almost as quick
as I can go along the wall.(so the wall won't fall down!).

2) I can't easily remove the original problem of wet soil behing
decorative
bricks (it's complicated...). So the new bricks need to be moisture/frost
proof. I could use blues. But, I wondered if could somehow frost proof
(new)
decoratve originals, perhaps by soaking in some clear sealant or DPC
stuff
or painting with liquid DPM (except out-facing side!). This would keep a
full course of the same bricks for appearance, if that matters.

3) Where the problem isn't too bad but bricks might be vulnerable in
future,
remembering that the underground part of the bricks will be in the wet,
would injecting chemical DPC into these bricks prevent future spalling?.

4) Finally can anyone suggest a good online brick library with I can track
down the 1970's bricks I need.

Justin.


Yes there is such a thing as quick-setting cement. It contains chromates and
other interesting stuff. It does what it says on the bag. You have to work
quickly with it so don't mix up a lot in one go. Conventional mortar is
workable for maybe two hours, the quick set stuff goes unworkable in
minutes.
I know 'cos I've used it. The sheds stock it.

Andy.

Justin,

You cannot afford to leave it alone. The wall is your property, and
your responsibility. If it collapses on someone, you *will* have an
amost indefensible 'public liability' case against you. And your
household insurer is unlikely to be helpful, as they almost certainly
have a clause requiring you to keep everything structural in good order
and condition. The wall isn't, and you clearly know it.

Can you not get a reliable tradesman - with public liability insurance
- in to do the job? Then you have demonstrably taken 'reasonable care'
to have the wall made good - and safe. And you have a come-back if
anything goes wrong.

Bilbo

On Oct 19, 12:59 pm, "Justin" wrote:
My back garden is about 2ft higher than the neighbour's, a retaining wall
divides the two. The bottom courses are blue brick, the upper courses are a
rather sandy decorative brick. I've just found out that part of the bottom
course of decoratives are severely damaged on my neighbours side and need
replacing. This is because my garden slopes slightly from left to right
putting these bricks below ground level on my side, causing them to be wet
and spall on the open (neighbours) side. I also now know that I own this
wall outright (;-)

1) Is there such a thing as quick setting mortar?. I've got quite a length
to drill out & replace, the idea is to have the mortar set almost as quick
as I can go along the wall.(so the wall won't fall down!).

2) I can't easily remove the original problem of wet soil behing decorative
bricks (it's complicated...). So the new bricks need to be moisture/frost
proof. I could use blues. But, I wondered if could somehow frost proof (new)
decoratve originals, perhaps by soaking in some clear sealant or DPC stuff
or painting with liquid DPM (except out-facing side!). This would keep a
full course of the same bricks for appearance, if that matters.

3) Where the problem isn't too bad but bricks might be vulnerable in future,
remembering that the underground part of the bricks will be in the wet,
would injecting chemical DPC into these bricks prevent future spalling?.

4) Finally can anyone suggest a good online brick library with I can track
down the 1970's bricks I need.

Justin.

Justin wrote:

Sorry I didn't make it clear that this wall is about 4ft 6 high on my side,
7ft high from the lower ground level thus retaining about 2ft 6 of soil. I
wouldn't want this to come down during the work!. I'd thought of doing it in
sections, though given the poor state of the bricks no more than 2-3 at a
time. I really want to take two out first (AB), put in (A) then take out (C)
then put in (B) etc all along the line. This seems easier as it's much
easier to drill out & replace bricks if they are not completely enclosed.
Hence quick-set mortar plea for help - is such stuff viable and available?.

Yes obviously this wall doesn't need a DPC. I was thinking if the suspect
bricks had DPC chemicals injected, well into the depth of the brick (middle
or even further back), this might stop water penetrating the brick from the
back to the front and might check the spalling. But it was just a thought.

Because water is coming from the back, rendering the brick faces will have
the reverse of the desired effect of keeping water away from the brick, and
would the render be a violation of my neighbours territorial airspace?.

Justin.


Another way to quick set cement is to mix mortar up using boiled water.
Trouble is is sets very quickly... Seriously, the issue is that
although the initial set may be quick, the following 28 day hardening
period is no faster. So since its a retaining wall, I'd do some of it,
leave it a month then do the rest.

Wood props can be used as temporary support, as long as theyre solid
enough, jointed strongly enough, and footed firmly enough.

Painting the back of the new bricks with bitumen paint will reduce
water flow into the wall. Bitumen is not the same thing as injected dpc
chemicals, which would not stop water ingress under pressure.

If present bricks have spalled, I would not want to replace them with
the same type, as they're likely to go the same way.

If the bricks only have damaged faces, lime rendering them would give
them a sacrificial layer, and should stop further deterioration. The
lime lets the water come out, but the lime takes the freeze damage,
thus not affecting the structure of the wall.


NT

In article ,
Justin wrote:
My back garden is about 2ft higher than the neighbour's, a
retaining wall divides the two. The bottom courses are blue
brick, the upper courses are a rather sandy decorative brick.
I've just found out that part of the bottom course of decoratives
are severely damaged on my neighbours side and need replacing.
This is because my garden slopes slightly from left to right
putting these bricks below ground level on my side, causing them
to be wet and spall on the open (neighbours) side. I also now
know that I own this wall outright (;-)

This garden here is full of retaining walls, so I've
had to (reluctantly) become an 'expert' on what
happens to them, even those as low as 2ft. The earth
and retained water behind that wall is going to push
at it forever, and will win in the end. So the earth/
/water problem should be solved first.

Open up a trench, a spade width at the bottom, with
the earth sloped back about 30 to 45 degrees. Go down
either to the foundations or until you reach any
drainage gravel that the builder put in. Shift the
earth away and walk away from it until the wall has
thoroughly dried out. Probably next summer now.
Sort out the damaged bricks whenever you like.

When fully dry paint the wall with a serious coat of
bitumastic up to ground level, then backfill with pea
gravel.

--
Tony Williams.

I'm not quite sure if mortar made with QS cement or hot water would it give
a sufficiently strong bond to the brick as the short-life wet mix doesn't
have much time to soak in?... If this is OK the only problem would be having
to wait 28 days for each section as suggested.

Justin

Justin wrote:
Yes obviously this wall doesn't need a DPC.

It's not uncommon for a DPC to be put between the wall and the
supported earth and that would probably have saved the bricks from
spalling.

How many do you have to replace?

Justin wrote:
I'm not quite sure if mortar made with QS cement or hot water would
it give a sufficiently strong bond to the brick as the short-life wet
mix doesn't have much time to soak in?... If this is OK the only
problem would be having to wait 28 days for each section as suggested.

Justin

You can wait 48 hours for each section, it takes 28 days to reach it's full
strength but is perfectly set enough for a garden wall in 2.

Phil L wrote:
Justin wrote:
I'm not quite sure if mortar made with QS cement or hot water would
it give a sufficiently strong bond to the brick as the short-life wet
mix doesn't have much time to soak in?... If this is OK the only
problem would be having to wait 28 days for each section as suggested.

Justin

You can wait 48 hours for each section, it takes 28 days to reach it's full
strength but is perfectly set enough for a garden wall in 2.


Agreed.
In warmn weather, overnight, in cold, a couple of days.

Yes obviously this wall doesn't need a DPC.
....In the sense that a DPC course is a horizontal defence against rising
damp

It's not uncommon for a DPC to be put between the wall and the
supported earth and that would probably have saved the bricks from
spalling.

A impervious layer between the bricks and the earth certainly would have
helped.

How many do you have to replace?

About 20 to 50, depending on what happend in the lesser-damaged cases.

Justin.