Another Building thread

[Mikey D]

Ok have a look at photos , you can see why the brickwork is cracking . the lintol is bearing on half a brick , Now im thinking of propping up with an acrow , cutting out the half brick and replacing with a full brick . Same on the inside as the crack is internal as well half way up the wall upstairs. Nothing major just a hairline crack in the plaster .

Has anyone got any other advice or knows of a better way to sort it , i 'think' you can get some kind of stainless ties that you
resin in the joins horizontally ???

Looking to sell the house soon(its the g/f's its not mine Mines the one with the scaffolding )


cheers guys

 

[Jammy James]

The lintel does not seam to go in to the wall far enough

 

[pedrobedro]

Someone didn't work the coursing out properly on that. It looks like it had a new door frame in at some point and the lintel is a new addition. Did it have a bow top previously with a window above the door? I would acrow it and take the whole and the half brick out to three or four courses downand swap them round. You could put ties in the joint, there is an L shaped one you can screw to the end of a solid brick and rest in the joint. It looks like it has split and someone just pointed the crack up a few times. Flemish bond should have finished on a stretcher not a header and it would have been fine. The hairline crack in the plaster is probably a 1/2" crack in the brick behind it.

 

[Mikey D]

Im not too sure of the history , but believe the house which is now a semi ,used to be one house (hence the 1A ) . The old guy across the road says it used to be the station masters house and there used to be a railway platform to the rear . The railway line is still there allbeit a single track .
The door next door has the same problem , with the lintol bearing on about 100 or so and cracking below the lintol .
Im guessing the main door was in a different location many years ago

looks like prop it up , and rebuild a few
cources with full bricks up to the door frame . The inside has been bodged up with a piece of plasterboard stuck over the door so heaven knows what ill find under that

cheers Mike

 

[Jammy James]

better to do the work now than be sorry

 

[cumbriasteve]

Defo poor course work, when you rebuild a trick I learnt is to include some builers strapping across all the joints.
Its the thin flexible metal strap with holes along it, it bonds into the mortar mix and helps prevents cracks forming.

 

[mike os]

I would just remove the 1st & 3rd brick & replace with full... the other pieces will be OK (acrow first)

use cement mortar rather than resin..... & try to get a similar mix to the original... 5:1 would be a good start.

also use to repoint the cracks... rake out to 15-20mm deep.

 

[Hitch]

Helifix is what you are thinking of Mike.

Thats some strange masonry work, whats with the keystone

 

[Mikey D]

Aye helifix , anyway dont need that . Yea the brickwork is a bit strange with the brick 'arch' then , the different bricks between that and the stone lintel . incidently the rh side has the correct bond and a full brick to bear on .
Mike , I will mix up afew mortar mixes to get a good match , does anyone still add lime to pointing mix if so what proportions would one use ??

cheers Mike

 

[Sean]

1:1:6 is favoured mix in Edinburgh (portland, lime, aggregate)

1:2:9 ive seen quoted in other areas

the lintel isn't carrying too much weight as the relieving arch above is doing a lot of the work, but yes untidy brickwork, the Victorians were the biggest cowboy builders going

S

 

[Mikey D]

Thanks sean . Will post up the end result . Hopefully not a pile of rubble on the floor

 

[mike os]

no need for helifix for something like that....

the pointing in the pic looks like a cement mortar

 

[Nomolos]

Hi ho

Looking at the right hand picture none of that frame and arch would seem to be original, its difficult to say from just a small area, but looking at the bricks above the lintel they look to be a different material and the way the bricks are cut above just does not look right to the eye?
The mortar lines are smaller as well.

If this is a conversion from a station it could be the windows and doors have been slotted in much latter.

Best of luck