Railings with brick piers

tyllwyd

Can I ask for some very basic advice on brickwork?


We are supposed to be having a raised patio built against the back of the house (about two foot up from ground level), with brick piers and decorative iron railings around the edge of the patio. Stupidly we trusted a landscape gardener to do it, and seeing the state of what he's done so far we've had to sack him.


So far he's built a blockwork inner skin with an outer skin of brickwork but there are no sign of any piers along the wall. I'm so confused - what would brick piers at patio level normally rest on?

tony6403

Pics of what he has done would be useful.

Le_Kirk

Yes, pictures would help as I cannot visualize a patio which is two feet above the dpc (damp proof course) unless it is totally separate from and not connected to, the house wall.

tyllwyd

Sorry, I didn't explain myself very well - the ground slopes down from the front of the house to the back and there are currently three steps down from the back door to the garden. So the top of the patio is just below the back door and below the dpc.

Le_Kirk

Ah, it becomes a little clearer. Are the piers supposed to be on top of the patio slabs or are they to be underneath to support the patio?

tyllwyd

I'm embarrassed to put this up but here's a picture. There were supposed to be railings with brick piers around the edge of the patio.
On the side of the patio you can't see, there's no wall, he's just rested everything up against next door's fence. There were supposed to be steps up to the patio at the corner of the house.


(Just to clarify, this is all being taken down as soon as possible and rebuilt properly!)

Le_Kirk

Other more experienced builders will be along to help but if it was me I would be expecting a foundation of sorts below the bottom brick course (it looks like that might actually be there) and piers at regular intervals along the longest wall, at the corners and both sides of the steps access. These would be built on the foundations and then raised above the new ground level in order to fix the railings. Given the fact that there is soil/patio to be supported there might also need to be buttresses on the outside.

System

I may be missing something here (it's been known to happen on a friday afternoon...)
But what's the problem with doing cavity blockwork for this? if it's got a decent foundation having two leafs of masonry (tied together with suitable ties) will be better than single leaf with piers, railings would just have to be suitably anchored into the top of the brick/block (although I tend to prefer to have verticals fixed into face of walls rather than on the top)