Possible to increase height of existing wall?

moneyistooshorttomention

One of my garden walls is rather short in height - and I would like to increase the height to improve my privacy.

Is this actually physically possible to do it neatly and how tall could it be on its existing foundations?

It is a single thickness wall made of concrete blocks. Ideally - I would like to increase its height to 5' - but I'm not quite sure whether the wall would "cope" with being single thickness at that height and in view of this being a windy area.

My other query on this wall is as to whether its height could be added to totally from my own land - as I cant see next door neighbour agreeing access to their land to do any of the work.

It is just my wall - as a previous owner of my house was the one that put it there.

Dan-Dan

http://www.pavingexpert.com/featur03.htm

Ebe_Scrooge

As well as the information contained in the excellent website posted by Dan-Dan, you could investigate adding some trellis on top of the wall, rather than increasing the height of the wall itself. This would likely be quite a bit cheaper, would be fairly attractive, and would provide privacy of you grow some plants up through it. As long as you screw the trellis into the wall using suitable screws and rawl-plugs it should be very secure and stand up to winds without any problem. Just a thought.

moneyistooshorttomention

An alternative thought of mine is certainly along the lines of something trellis/fence like - as that would look better than concrete blocks (though I'd obviously paint the new ones my side).

But - I do think I have to take it that I may well not be allowed the other side to maintain any wood and its best to plan accordingly - hence the adding to concrete blocks idea (as they wouldn't deteriorate due to lack of any maintenance on other side).

I have tossed around the idea in my head as to whether really high-quality hardwood trellis/fence would stand up to, say, 30 years of not being "maintained" on the other side. I don't actually know the answer to that one.

I am not quite sure whether the evergreen plants I would have in mind to put on a trellis etc would totally hide all wood fairly quickly - and then it wouldn't matter anyway iyswim??

Furts

I raised my boundary wall from 1800mm high to 2250mm high. This is brick with a thickness of 100mm. This is a dodgy thing to do structurally and not good practice. However it is all well bonded, with piers and returns, and a proper coping detail. It has the correct mortar mix - a rarity these days. It is exposed and prone to freezing in winter. That said, it is rock solid.

In your case I would be wary of raising the wall. The issue will not be the foundations - it is the stability of the wall. Blocks can come off and topple more readily than well tied and bonded brickwork.

If you have piers at around two metre centres, tied to the wall- and this is vital - then you should be OK. Also put a proper coping detail on the wall which could help tie the top in.

A bricklayer could lay " over hand" leaving an iffy jointing and pointing detail on the neighbours side. The solution is to point this out to the neighbour, and say aesthetically they will be looking at a better wall if the bricklayer is allowed to come round and point it properly.

Stevie_Palimo

I had to raise a wall's height and contemplated increasing with brick onto concrete block work existing wall but decided in the end to add a wooden fence instead which was made up of metal bolt down sqr post holders and then an upward post coming from this together with runners across them and timber screwed to them, It added enough height to give us privacy and deter the stupid kids.

moneyistooshorttomention

Furts wrote: »

I raised my boundary wall from 1800mm high to 2250mm high. This is brick with a thickness of 100mm. This is a dodgy thing to do structurally and not good practice. However it is all well bonded, with piers and returns, and a proper coping detail. It has the correct mortar mix - a rarity these days. It is exposed and prone to freezing in winter. That said, it is rock solid.

In your case I would be wary of raising the wall. The issue will not be the foundations - it is the stability of the wall. Blocks can come off and topple more readily than well tied and bonded brickwork.

If you have piers at around two metre centres, tied to the wall- and this is vital - then you should be OK. Also put a proper coping detail on the wall which could help tie the top in.

A bricklayer could lay " over hand" leaving an iffy jointing and pointing detail on the neighbours side. The solution is to point this out to the neighbour, and say aesthetically they will be looking at a better wall if the bricklayer is allowed to come round and point it properly.

I cant see anything remotely resembling piers and have no idea of what sort of foundations etc the current wall has got. I am not feeling optimistic on that front - as I have been absolutely gobsmacked at just how poor quality some of the workmanship I can see in this area is:eek::eek::eek:. Would you believe I've seen a wall nearby that positively "snakes" around - and isn't even in a straight line at the most cursory glance. I then started studying some other nearby walls more closely - and was not impressed! Hence - I think its as well to assume the worst re quality of existing work....:cool:. I remember your comments (quite some time back now...) re what to expect here of standard of workmanship - and, boy, were you right? (yep...unfortunately....).

I'm going off the idea rapidly of trying to add to existing wall from the comments so far - and therefore wondering even more whether my "solution" to the privacy problem will centre around something like a wood type solution (if of the trellis/fence of high quality variety).

I'm also wondering whether I could add some metal (black?) type "fencing" on top of this wall and grow evergreen plants up that. I've never even seen anything remotely contemporary along those lines - and I do like contemporary for everything. My taste is very bog-standard - but of the early 21st century variety. I am seriously into "contemporary" for everything.

I'm quite clear I do not want "Old Lady Style" or "1970s style" - which is very much what I am busily removing from my property right now.

moneyistooshorttomention

Stevie_Palimo wrote: »

I had to raise a wall's height and contemplated increasing with brick onto concrete block work existing wall but decided in the end to add a wooden fence instead which was made up of metal bolt down sqr post holders and then an upward post coming from this together with runners across them and timber screwed to them, It added enough height to give us privacy and deter the stupid kids.

This is one of the lines I am thinking along.

I've come from an area where we don't tend to use concrete blocks (ie the West Country) - and I duly hate them. I'm used to brick (or I also like the look of real stone - but cant afford it).

These "square post holders and then an upward post" - what do they look like? Have you got a link to a picture of what you are thinking of - so that I can picture what you mean?

So - I'm open to ideas generally as to what the heck to do with that wall - based on 21st century "West Country" tastes iyswim....

Furts

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

This is one of the lines I am thinking along.

I've come from an area where we don't tend to use concrete blocks (ie the West Country) - and I duly hate them. I'm used to brick (or I also like the look of real stone - but cant afford it).

These "square post holders and then an upward post" - what do they look like? Have you got a link to a picture of what you are thinking of - so that I can picture what you mean?

So - I'm open to ideas generally as to what the heck to do with that wall - based on 21st century "West Country" tastes iyswim....

Fixing a fence post to a wall is straight forward using frame fixings, or similar. Just be careful because the wall is built of block. These are inherently less satisfactory than brick walls. A heavy use of a hammer drill will loosen the joints. loosen the blocks and the wall will be useless. If the mortar is weak, or suspect, then it becomes an even more likely scenario.

As a side issue ponder why the wall was built of blocks. The answer is it is cheaper, the labour is less skilled and it can be built quicker. Is this scenario likely in your part of the country?

moneyistooshorttomention

Furts wrote: »

As a side issue ponder why the wall was built of blocks. The answer is it is cheaper, the labour is less skilled and it can be built quicker. Is this scenario likely in your part of the country?

Oh yes.

Very much so indeed - darn it and that is part of why I could move from my Home Area to a "higher up the housing ladder" house here (ie the starter mid-terrace house with back yard to a detached with garden).

I've quite definitely been told that part of the reason for the prevalence of concrete block walls (both as garden walls and in some of the houses here) is down to a combination of its cheaper and much of the "labour" involved wasn't skilled enough to do the standard brick walls I am used to personally.

I've also noted that I'm obviously used to "prettier" than a lot of what I see here. Aesthetic considerations (in some places here) don't "weigh in the balance" to the extent I am used to. Its more "bare and basic" than I am used to in some places - and that includes where I personally am. There is "pretty and softer" style in some nearby places and I like the look of them - but, right where I am personally, "pretty and softer" isn't the norm:(. What I'm more used to can cost a 6 figure amount of money more within fairly short distance of where I am living now....

It is rather a "challenge" to turn this old-lady/cheapo built/old-fashioned little house into my "pretty/contemporary/normal standard" type house that I am looking towards....and its not an easy one...but I'm working on it...

Furts

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Oh yes.

Very much so indeed - darn it and that is part of why I could move from my Home Area to a "higher up the housing ladder" house here (ie the starter mid-terrace house with back yard to a detached with garden).

I've quite definitely been told that part of the reason for the prevalence of concrete block walls (both as garden walls and in some of the houses here) is down to a combination of its cheaper and much of the "labour" involved wasn't skilled enough to do the standard brick walls I am used to personally.

Again putting a technical slant on things, I am guessing that you live near to the coast, or quite high up. In both scenarios it is common to have rendered homes. The local skills have evolved around this. This means a block construction and all the (poor) workmanship gets hidden by the render. Face brickwork requires a much higher skill because this is visible for all to see.

With a tradition, and skill base, for building with blockwork it follows that garden walls will also be built in this manner.