Brick planter against house wall

insideandout

I’ve recently parted company with the company I had doing work in my garden. They built planter walls around each side. On one of the sides the planters connect to  my house wall. They have only built 1 course of wall and were going to use the house wall for the other side and fill with soil. I’m really concerned about the damage this would cause with dampness of the soil getting through into the house and also any problems if i were to sell my house in future. How can i resolve the issue myself?

stuart45

Did the company design that? I wouldn't want all that earth piled up against the walls. 

chrisw

I would have thought you could line it with waterproof membrane, although it does seem silly introducing a potential damp source if it should ever fail.

theoretica

Don't fill them with earth.  Maybe put large plant pots in them, but make sure there is drainage at the bottom no worse than before the planters were built and ideally drainage holes in the brick at the front bottom.

theoretica

Or roof them as wide benches - could put plant pots on top, but I wouldn't want that in my garden.

twopenny

Soil would bring off the rendering fairly swiftly.

There is often an airbrick under a front window on houses of this type.

While you could continue with a membrane they don't last forever and will have to be above soil level looking unsightly.

You seem to be very high up looking at the other house adjacent in the photo. With the single brick boundary filled with soil excessive rain pooling in those big planters could keep damp against the brick mortar and rot it.

JIL

I'm not sure what the planters were supposed to do? The bricks arent as nice as the stones used to build your house and the stone at the bottom of your window is covered and out of view. Were coping stones going on top of the brickwork? Once these were planted up the plants would surely block your view, it wouldn't make sense to have such high brick walls and then use ground cover plants. 
I think I would be tempted to remove a few courses of brickwork, use pots in the beds and hide the brickwork with some wooden sleepers.

Homer_home

JIL said:

I'm not sure what the planters were supposed to do? The bricks arent as nice as the stones used to build your house and the stone at the bottom of your window is covered and out of view. Were coping stones going on top of the brickwork? Once these were planted up the plants would surely block your view, it wouldn't make sense to have such high brick walls and then use ground cover plants. 
I think I would be tempted to remove a few courses of brickwork, use pots in the beds and hide the brickwork with some wooden sleepers.

I suspect the bricks were going to be rendered given the plastic beading which has been installed 

Niv

Due to the slotted pipe I presume that there was going to be a French drain running along the outer house wall, is that correct? That would keep soil off the wall and allow water to drain quickly - but where does that slotted pipe drain to it doesn't look like it leaves the planters?

ic

I can't understand why those square bits are plonked either in the middle of the window, or just off to the side?  Surely if you stand back it must be out of balance with the house?

Ectophile

My recommendation would be to invest in a good sledgehammer.  That should solve the problem fairly quickly.