Filling in holes in brickwork

Dan-Dan

Hi
Taking down an old lean to soon , that is on the back of the house ,before i do that , i want to make good some holes in the brickwork , from washing machine pipes etc , what is best to use , expanding foam , or some sort of ready mixed mortar?

or?

Cheers

DaftyDuck

Replace the bricks, if large holes, else I'd mix up some soft mortar. Will the holes be visible later?

Dan-Dan

Hello dafty me ole mate

they wont be that big , but certainly visible , can i not buy some ready made stuff?

Mark_Mark

You could slap some if this in.

http://www.toolstation.com/m/part.html?p=69913

But whether it matches your current mortar is another matter.

DaftyDuck

Dan-Dan wrote: »

Hello dafty me ole mate

they wont be that big , but certainly visible , can i not buy some ready made stuff?

Sure you can and, if you have a few dummy runs to get it right, you can colour it to match the brick. Make edges of brick look intact and you'll never notice.

Dan-Dan

How do you colour it?

DaftyDuck

You can buy "posh" colour kits to match brick. You can get nearly as good effect by adding a little dark red emulsion (and any other needed colour) to get a reasonable match. You can also find a similar coloured brick, grind a bit up (or use a drill and drill some dust out), and use that for a colour match. Amateurish, but it works. The main thing is to get the surface level to match the brick level, the mortar to match the mortar, and a clearly defined edge on the brick. It becomes almost unnoticeable, even when not coloured.

wallbash

How do you colour it?

The 'colour' comes from the sand, therefore varies from different part of the country. Getting an exact match is a nightmare and is beyond the likes of us DIY'ers. I wouldn't be too bothered about the colour, would be more worried about doing a really neat job.

27col

I always think that brick replacement and repairs are just showing the history of the house.

Dan-Dan

Hmmm , food for thought , when i have stripped the lean to bare , i will post a picture of the holes that need filling , see if the advice changes a little , as its hard to tell just now as shelving etc still up