House concerns - gable straps & single cracked bricks

AvengerUK

Hi All,

I'm hoping to get some advice on two current house concerns where I seem to be getting mixed answers - which isn't helping to get them off my mind!

In the original surveyors report (which had slipped my mind) a non-urgent (2) recommendation was to "Provide gable straps to connect the roof structure to the walls within the loft space" - I had asked a roofer I've used previously and found to be very good whose said the surveys often mention these but that they are not really needed - just looking for second opinions really!

The other "issue" is some of the brick work have become cracked in various ways on the surface - its only on the odd brick and doesn't extend past a single brick - and I'm wondering if these should be sealed / repaired in some way? (as a new user I can't post an image example of this )

Many thanks for any advice!

Mistral001

If the house was built after about the 1960's, the straps will have been a Building Control requirement. Houses before that usually did not have these straps. They are to provide restraint to the top of the wall. In very windy areas they will prevent the wall being sucked out or blown in and becoming disconnected from the roof structure.


If the house is a very old house, isolated cracked bricks are not uncommon and should be either replaced or have the cracks raked out and filled with mortar especially if the wall is solid and not a cavity wall as the cracks will provide a path for water going through the wall.

stuart45

If the house is quite old and the gable end has stood the test of time, then the straps are not really an issue.
I can't remember exactly when I first used them, but it was probably in the late 80's. The hurricane of 87 took out quite a few gable ends.
If you do want to put some in, you need to fix them to the bottom of the rafters and use noggins in between the rafters.

AvengerUK

Thank you for the replies.

House was built i believe around 1976 - so not sure if this would mean it should be strapped already (I've no idea how you would tell, or not!)

Bricks are reclaimed I think (all different). The cracked ones are very few and far between.

They have been repointed (I believe just before we purchased the house) - I'm not sure if it's worth using some coloured mortar and then putting some breathable water seal on myself or getting a Brickie to look (who id guess would probably want to replace?)

stuart45

AvengerUK wrote: »

Thank you for the replies.

House was built i believe around 1976 - so not sure if this would mean it should be strapped already (I've no idea how you would tell, or not!)

I can't remember ever using straps on gables in the 70's.
Reclaimed bricks became quite popular in the 80's, but many were inferior quality ones that came from interior walls, and suffered from frost damage etc.
You could use some clear mastic in the cracks.

AvengerUK

Yeh it doesn't surprise me you mention frost damage - some have been repaired (filled) as were spalled on the ground level (so not noticable). on my to-do list is to apply brick sealent to hopefully avoid more. Mastic sounds like an idea followed by a seal.(especially since I think there are only the odd one or two)

I'll have to look into the gables by the sounds of.it - although I don't think I'd attempt it myself so I'll investigate via roofers!

Thanks,

stuart45

Not a big job, but working in the roof space often makes people quote high as they don't really want the job.

AvengerUK

I don't blame them!

I actually have a Brickie round tomorrow - apparently a previous ill judgded DIY repair where with some frost damaged bricks under the DPC isn't something that's recommended (being under the DPC that is).

Few bricks round the back and a few round the side , some.sre just small spots so I'm hoping they can left alone...

You can probably tell I'm a hopeless DIYer!

Mistral001

stuart45 wrote: »

I can't remember ever using straps on gables in the 70's.
Reclaimed bricks became quite popular in the 80's, but many were inferior quality ones that came from interior walls, and suffered from frost damage etc.
You could use some clear mastic in the cracks.

I only started working in the construction industry in the 1980's and just assumed that the straps were always in the Building Regulations which only properly came into force in the 1960's so I got the 1960's bit wrong I am afraid.

Straps have been in the British Standard for masonry construction since the 1970's (they are in my earliest edition of 1978). I am not sure exactly when straps were required as a Building Regulation. I know they came in before the hurricane of 1987 as I had been specifying them before that.

BTW I remember going for an interview for a job in Kent the day after the hurricane and remember seeing from the train some gable walls which had been sucked out the night before. The interview was on a Saturday.

stuart45

Interesting that they were in a 1978 book. Like many ideas they are often being used for years by some builders before they enter the regs.

Mistral001

stuart45 wrote: »

Interesting that they were in a 1978 book. Like many ideas they are often being used for years by some builders before they enter the regs.

It was in the British Standard for the structural design of masonry rather than a text book.

As an aside this British Standard when it was introduced in the 1970's was very comprehensive and much more detailed than any of the standards that were being used in the rest of Europe at the time. In fact it was used as the basis of the Eurocode for masonry when it was first published a few years ago. This was a case of the UK imposing higher standards on the EU! But that is a different subject and we will not go there.