Old brick built garage further repair / maintenance advice please

[tomparryharry]

Subject to personal experience, I'd suggest removing the sand, and replacing that with the pea shingle only. If you have a surface drain, have a look to see if you can alter the ground level to divert any rainfall to the drain. 

[flockandroll]

Further advice re replacing spalling bricks please:

 

[flockandroll]

I have already removed the small tree, started repointing and digging out the soil to below inside floor level. In due course I will dig out the soil even lower and fill with gravel / shingle. And divert the water that flows off the neighbour's garage down a downpipe and out onto the soil to flow towards my garage / shed, or even make them a mini soakaway. 

Meanwhile, I guess the spalling bricks have to be replaced. 

Grateful for any advice please:

All of them or just the really bad ones? 

Do I just driil and chisel through the mortar and wiggle them out? Or in? 

Is it best to replace one at a time, or where there are several above each other, can they safely all come out at once? 

Further along there are several in a horizontal line where it will have to be one at a time. 

Thanks for reading this long message and any replies. 

(This is the side facing my rear neighbour's. On the long side facing me I removed the gravel down below the inside floor level, and so far this autumn no sign of damp on that side) 

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

24 minutes ago, flockandroll said:

I have already removed the small tree, started repointing and digging out the soil to below inside floor level. In due course I will dig out the soil even lower and fill with gravel / shingle. And divert the water that flows off the neighbour's garage down a downpipe and out onto the soil to flow towards my garage / shed, or even make them a mini soakaway. 

Meanwhile, I guess the spalling bricks have to be replaced. 

Grateful for any advice please:

All of them or just the really bad ones? 

Do I just driil and chisel through the mortar and wiggle them out? Or in? 

Is it best to replace one at a time, or where there are several above each other, can they safely all come out at once? 

Further along there are several in a horizontal line where it will have to be one at a time. 

Thanks for reading this long message and any replies. 

(This is the side facing my rear neighbour's. On the long side facing me I removed the gravel down below the inside floor level, and so far this autumn no sign of damp on that side) 

 

 

Those bricks look quite old so unless you can get old bricks to match you will have a slight mismatch of sizes if you replace them by modern bricks.  Doesn't matter over much if you're just replacing odd bricks here and there but where there are several courses you'll need relatively slightly thicker mortar beds between each course.

 

In places I suspect teh answer to how many you take out at a time might be answered for you by what the other bricks decide to do once you take a couple out.

[chris p bacon]

38 minutes ago, flockandroll said:

Do I just driil and chisel through the mortar and wiggle them out? Or in? 

Is it best to replace one at a time, or where there are several above each other, can they safely all come out at once? 

 

Get a plugging chisel so that you can rake out the mortar between the bricks then remove the brick, if it is good on the reverse turn it around and pop it back in. you can take out 4-6 (maximum) at a time, but no more unless you're quick at replacing them.

looking at the mortar you need to use a lime and sand mix (1:4) make a wet (ish) mix and butter either the bottom of the brick or the top of the brick it will sit on, then place the brick in place. Using a pointing trowel pack the top & side joints with mortar until you are confident the hole at the rear (where the damaged face is now) has a good body of mortar in. If you take out several at a time the bottom bricks are easy to lay and plug and you only have to point the top one.

 

For a single course of damaged bricks you could take out a long section such as below and pack with wedges.

When you lay the bricks only remove a small section of wedges at a time and leave it a couple of days for the mortar to harden before taking out another section. It is a slow process and I would suggest you scrape out the mortar (1/2 inch) from the front face when laying so that it is possible to repoint all in one go so it is uniform.

 

In the following link the thin trowel is suitable for packing mortar into a joint.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/forge-steel-edging-trowel-set-3-pieces/5334c

 

 

[flockandroll]

25 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

 

In places I suspect teh answer to how many you take out at a time might be answered for you by what the other bricks decide to do once you take a couple out.

Ha! Hope it's not like Jenga... 

[flockandroll]

I got some matching bricks off the side neighbour when he did alterations to his house. 

[flockandroll]

Thanks Chris P Bacon, I have a trowel set. The proper chisel will be handy to have, but where do I source lime? The local Wickes don't seem to have it. 

Edited October 19, 2020 by flockandroll
To remove an unwanted "L"

[chris p bacon]

You need to go to a builders merchant for it, it's used in plastering and rendering, one bag will go a fair way but be very careful when you use it.  wear gloves and don't wear any clothes you're fond of or want to last a long time (same for boots) 

 

It is about £10-12 a bag. Make up a bucket full at a time, if you've got some left over just add a bit of water to it and cover the bucket overnight with plastic or a cloth and carry on using it the following day (it's called steeping or slaking the lime)

 

I actually prefer to use lime and sand as I get on better with it, lucky really as the next job will use about 10 tons of the stuff! 

[flockandroll]

Thanks! 

I have a pair of 'industrial' Wellingtons I bought when I had to go with students to a farm, hope they will be OK, especially if I wash them off afterwards. 

[Richard_A]

20 minutes ago, chris p bacon said:

You need to go to a builders merchant for it, it's used in plastering and rendering, one bag will go a fair way but be very careful when you use it.  wear gloves and don't wear any clothes you're fond of or want to last a long time (same for boots) 

 

It is about £10-12 a bag. Make up a bucket full at a time, if you've got some left over just add a bit of water to it and cover the bucket overnight with plastic or a cloth and carry on using it the following day (it's called steeping or slaking the lime)

 

I actually prefer to use lime and sand as I get on better with it, lucky really as the next job will use about 10 tons of the stuff! 

Hydrated lime is quite slow setting especially at this time of year so heed Chris's warning at taking too much masonry out, there is an other lime which you could use which is NHL lime which is a hydraulic setting lime, e.g. It sets quite quickly with water, not as quick as portland cement but faster that quicklime. 

[flockandroll]

I think I will end up buying one of these,

https://www.lincolnshirelime.co.uk/lime-green-chalk-coloured-natural-hydraulic-lime-mortar-nhl-35-25kg-159-p.asp

 

because of ease of getting it, and I'm a slow worker and it seems like It will soon be too cold to use without covering up from the weather, and seems to go off very quickly once you open a bag, and only keeps in an unopened bag for a few months. I say "seems" as different websites seem to say different even for the same product...

If I use up all of the one bag by the end of October I will be pleased with my progress to be honest. Then carry on in the spring / summer. 

 

Edited October 20, 2020 by flockandroll
forgot to add link

[chris p bacon]

So long as Lime is kept wrapped up and dry it will last quite a while, the problem is if you leave the bag open it will absorb moisture in the atmosphere.

We work all year around but make sure you cover any new work with a cloth overnight (we use hessian) this will stop moisture settling and frost, ideally just work in the morning on a sunny (ish) dry day and stop at lunchtime.

[flockandroll]

It is a south facing wall so that should help. 

[flockandroll]

OK, in a few days I'm collecting two bags of natural hydraulic lime mortar mix, the 3.5 ratio. I was going to get a bag of the 5 to repoint the foundations, but it's out of stock for some time. 

Have dug a trench down below the damp proof course and the top of the concrete floor to expose the top two layers of bricks of the actual foundations. This is a trench about 35cm deep into the soil, and has reached pretty much pure clay. 

My intention is to line the soil side of the trench with paving slabs and fill to just below floor level with 20mm gravel. Does this sound alright? 

Should there also be pea gravel? I'm thinking that if I dig any deeper it will just encourage water/moisture to come and of the clay and just sit there against the bricks. 

I will add some pictures in the next post. Thanks.

[flockandroll]

The pink horizontal line is level of the damp proof course, with the top of the concrete floor about an inch lower 

[flockandroll]

You can also see how the foundations of the neighbour's garage is hard up against my garage, and where their downpipe empties out. 

[chris p bacon]

2 hours ago, flockandroll said:

My intention is to line the soil side of the trench with paving slabs and fill to just below floor level with 20mm gravel. Does this sound alright? 

 

That'll be fine, keep the slabs above the adjacent soil level to stop any water run off taking it into the gravel.

[hayfield]

I was slightly concerned about the gap between our neighbours and our extensions, as it happens its bone dry, but as you would expect rain runs off into the gutters on the front.

 

Our patio is just below the damp course and path is 1 brick below, with the path the building inspector suggested pea shingle separating the path and house, the patio more or les is covered by the sill of the french windows with pea shingle either side of the sill 1 brick lower. again this area rarely gets wet. if you can control the run off from the roofs half the battle is won.

[flockandroll]

59 minutes ago, chris p bacon said:

 

That'll be fine, keep the slabs above the adjacent soil level to stop any water run off taking it into the gravel.

Thank you, yes. 

Been pouring with rain here for best part of five hours, and due to keep it up for longer, so will discover tomorrow what has washed into the trench

Edited October 24, 2020 by flockandroll
replace 'do' with 'so'

[flockandroll]

15 minutes ago, hayfield said:

... if you can control the run off from the roofs half the battle is won.

Intend to redirect their downpipe with their permission, and next year replace fascia and add a gutter to my garage on this side. 

Will probably build a mini wall to keep water away from the area where their foundation almost butt's up to and towers over mine. 

Edited October 24, 2020 by flockandroll
Added missing words

[simontaylor484]

Please make sure to wear eye protection with lime it is very irritating to ypur eyes

[polybear]

50 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Please make sure to wear eye protection with lime it is very irritating to ypur eyes

 

And gloves & mask - nasty stuff, causes burns:

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwj7goOY-M3sAhUTqXEKHX53CZs4ChAWMAR6BAgFEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lime.org%2Fdocuments%2Flime_basics%2Ffact-safety_precautions.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3tmrhYPxq6PGsNfjlr0FaW

[hayfield]

17 hours ago, flockandroll said:

Intend to redirect their downpipe with their permission, and next year replace fascia and add a gutter to my garage on this side. 

Will probably build a mini wall to keep water away from the area where their foundation almost butt's up to and towers over mine. 

 

Where I live the prevailing weather also has a great effect. The rear of our house faces just off due south, our weather usually comes from the south west, being in a semi detached house (eastern half) my neighbours house seems to shield ours to a certain effect, but even a modest overhang of our extensions roof seems to give quite a lot of protection to the wall below.

 

We also had a porch fitted to the front of the house, due to its size the building inspector was not interested in the guttering and there was no need for an additional soakaway, I have fitted guttering and it discharges into a flower bed.

[flockandroll]