Frost Damaged bricks!

nick.simpson19

I moved into my house in january and alot of the bricks on the 3rd row of brick from the damp course are cracked in half due to frost damage in the brick.

Does this leave me with any structural concerns?

How do i put right? I was thinking as you need at least two rows of bricks before damp course of concreteing up to bricks that are damaged to save replacing each brick one by one!

Any ideas?

philgee

Do you mean the third row beneath the dpc? Are they cracked, or have the faces of the bricks blown? How old is the house?

I would have though rendering the bricks up to the dpc would have been okay, as long as the render does not cross the dpc.

thebaldwindowfitter

rendering up to the dpc from the bottom should not be done still will cause damp that is why rendering finishes above damp.you could render each brick to stop them looking shabby if you understand what i mean use a coloured dye . or replace each brick

Fred56

The compressive strength of the damaged bricks will degrade rapidly. Replace the affected bricks a few at a time. Bricks are coded according to frost resistance and salt/sulphate content. Go to a brick factor or ask the technical department of a brick manufacturer to reccommend a suitable brick. If you are working under the DPC, the brick must be frost resistant. There are thousands or crap 60s and 70s houses and bugalows with the wrong bricks.
What's the mortar like, a bit crumbly? Sulphate attack?

nick.simpson19

alot of bricks are completely broke in half and there aint much mortar about. the house was neglected by previous owners i have spent around 10k on house all ready and no where near finished!

house was built in 1971.

Fred56

This won't cost much, even an expensive brick is only about 40p. The job's a pain though. No rush, just nibble a bit off now and again. Only do a few at a time, don't hack out a contiguous line of bricks, do them in isolation and make sure the mortar bed is well packed in all round.

nick.simpson19

Fred56 wrote: »

This won't cost much, even an expensive brick is only about 40p. The job's a pain though. No rush, just nibble a bit off now and again. Only do a few at a time, don't hack out a contiguous line of bricks, do them in isolation and make sure the mortar bed is well packed in all round.

anything you recommend to clean the old mortar off to get bricks out of wall? File? Grinder sounds bit extreme and probally damage other bricks in process?
(i dont like grinders they scare me i let my dad do all the grinding as he is good at butchering things)