Urgent bricklaying/wall advice needed please

davemorton

Next door have had a new wall built, and in doing so they had to knock down the short shared walls between the properys (about 4 foot long, with a column on each side) when building the new one, they have not connected the wall in any way to the coloumn (no cement or wall ties, just a 2 - 3 cm gap) they said this is the norm now for insurance etc. Are they talking rubish, or is that an accepted way to do things??

ormus

if you mean brick piers (coloumns), you dont really need them unless the wall is 3 metres long.
even so, if they are there then you should bond/fix into them.

you dont need expansion joints for such as short distance.

davemorton

ormus wrote: »

if you mean brick piers (coloumns), you dont really need them unless the wall is 3 metres long.
even so, if they are there then you should bond/fix into them.

you dont need expansion joints for such as short distance.

Yeah, mean piers. They first said it was an expansion gap, but I just looked at them and said in an inquisitive manner "a 3cm expansion gap for brick?" Thats when they said it was an insurance thing. Columns were there already. Thinking about it, it only really weakens next door wall, not my column, so will let them get on with it.

ormus

how tall is the wall?

i wouldnt let my kids anywhere near it!

davemorton

ormus wrote: »

how tall is the wall?

i wouldnt let my kids anywhere near it!

Wall is approx 4 foot tall, 2 brick thick.

iamcornholio

Walls are bonded to piers either by overlapping (ie bonding) the bricks, or at the very least with steel ties or mesh every few courses.

But from your description its not clear if the columns have been left in place with the new wall between them, or if new brick piers have been built too

I can't understand why a 3cm gap was left though. Even to bodge it the wall would be butted up to the pier/column, so could there be another reason why such a gap was left?

Anyway a low one-brick thick wall of that height is not going anywhere

davemorton

iamcornholio wrote: »

But from your description its not clear if the columns have been left in place with the new wall between them, or if new brick piers have been built too

Yep, one column has been left, with the wall running (almost) up to it. Looks like ill just have to mix some muck up myself for it. What annoyed me was when I pointed the gap out to the monkeys, they tried to say it was an 'expansion gap'!! How much do they think bricks expand?????

A.Penny.Saved

There are regulations on building up to and joining to the house wall. I believe it might be in the party wall act. A small gap would get around that I think.

Could this be why they left that gap?

Regulations now are getting ridiculous.

dander

I have been told it's best not to fix a garden wall to a house wall, but to leave a slight gap, so as to avoid breaching the damp proof course. Would this consideration affect your wall?