brick replacement

cur_2

Recently bought a solid walled end terrace. Terrace has suspended floor and lime mortar. I went under the floor to investigate a strange smell only to discover water (max 2 inch deep) covering about a third of the floor void. While under the floor I noticed water seeping through the wall.
I then went outside and started to dig away at a patio that had been built up against this side of the house. It was at this point I saw that the patio had bridged the dpc and the more rubble/earth removed I could see that some brick were loose and damaged and sections of mortar were in a poor state.

I'd like to replace the section of bricks under the dpc with engineering bricks to the foundations and install new air bricks. My question is can this be done a few bricks at a time, or is specialist equipment needed and would I need to use a lime mortar mix?
Many thanks in advance.

tony6403

It can be done in stages without using any special tools.
It is a very laborious but simple job.
As you have solid walls it is almost certain that there will be "headers" every third course (these bricks will provide support to the structure while removing the "stretchers" below).
Replacing headers (which extend across the full width of the wall) would be a ball acher and I would leave them alone unless they are in a very bad state.
Drilling multiple holes in the mortar with a long 8mm masonry bit will give a good start or a 225mm angle grinder will make shorter work of releasing the damaged bricks. Chisels obviously needed.
I can't see any advantage in using lime mortar below dpc level.

muckybutt

If you have an SDS drill with hammer stop these are a doddle to use for brick removal - http://www.screwfix.com/p/armeg-sds-plus-tct-brick-remover/13029?kpid=13029&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product%20Listing%20Ads-_-Sales%20Tracking-_-sales%20tracking%20url&kpid=13029&cm_mmc=Google-_-Shopping%20-%20Power%20Tool%20Accessories-_-Shopping%20-%20Power%20Tool%20Accessories&gclid=CjwKEAiAh7WkBRCQj-_zwZvk52ISJADj7z8CqBTFJemWRf8KGb5jwSdw1FnZVVDJ7h9ZABHr9zr3KxoCJRnw_wcB

cyclonebri1

cur wrote: »

My question is can this be done a few bricks at a time, or is specialist equipment needed and would I need to use a lime mortar mix?
Many thanks in advance.

Yes it can be done, and if you don't have a decent hammer chisel, a bolster and lump hammer will do the job, mind your knuckles.

This was 1 of the 1st DIY jobs I did back in the 70's on my 1st terraced house.
That didn't have a damp course, and the diving walls adjacent to the ginnel, were only single brick so you can imagine the issues.
We, me and the oldman, removed 4ft of brickwork at a time, wedged it at mid point.
We them inserted a lead sheet 4ft long and bricked over it.
We moved over 3ft and did it again, and so on untill we had done all approx 30 ft.
We gave it a while, at least a couple of weeks, then wherew the 3ft of original brick was, we removed 4ft of brickwork and laid lead sheep so as to give a 6" overlap and each end, thes were "masticed" on the joints

You get the idea, just don't take out too much in 1 go and if you do leave it for a while ensure you take the weight, a small scissor jack from a car is ideal as you work along.