Replacement front wall - building regulations?

Shoxt3r

Hi all,
We have a front wall which is badly in need of replacement - it's bowing in the middle, crumbling in places and is generally in a pretty poor state.
We're looking to have a direct replacement of this wall and a partition wall with our neighbour (which is on our land).

So far we've had 3 builders come to look at the state of the wall and give their recommendations - they're currently totting up a quote for us.
All 3 have (understandably) said that it needs to be replaced but there have been some conflicts over whether drainage underneath our concreted area (behind the wall) would be helpful (only 1 of the 3 recommended this, while 1 seemed to go along with the other when I mentioned it but said it was entirely up to us).

One major concern is that 1 of the builders mentioned new regulations which state that anything over 1 metre should be double-skinned to ensure that no-one is able to push it over and injure themselves, resulting in a court case. However, this conflicts with the following website which mentions that anything under 1.45 metres is fine to be single-skinned (we're in the South East of England, in Kent) - our wall measures at a maximum height of 1.25 metres.
https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/20/fences_gates_and_garden_walls/2

Any thoughts please? Thanks in advance!

stuart45

Yours is a half brick wall. Max 525mm.

Shoxt3r

Thanks Stuart.
When I measured the wall height it was coming out at 1.25 metres to the top of the "soldiers"?

On another note I've been quoted £1,850 so far which includes all materials and labour (I'm asking for a full, written and broken down quote however as it isn't very detailed).

neilmcl

stuart45 said:

Yours is a half brick wall. Max 525mm.

That's not a half brick wall, it's a one and a half brick.

@Shoxt3r a double skinned wall is also referred to as a single brick wall, ie, two rows of brick with one full brick as a stretcher. Yours is currently a one and half brick, a single skin wall is known as a half brick, ie, it's only a half a brick wide.

Edit, ignore the above. It only seems to be one and half brick at the pier on the end, and half brick throughout the length of the wall, is that correct?

grumbler

neilmcl said:

stuart45 said:

Yours is a half brick wall. Max 525mm.

That's not a half brick wall, it's a one and a half brick.

It's one and a half on the left side (pillar). The rest is half brick - just look at the pattern.

neilmcl

grumbler said:

neilmcl said:

stuart45 said:

Yours is a half brick wall. Max 525mm.

That's not a half brick wall, it's a one and a half brick.

It's one and a half on the left side (pillar). The rest is half brick - just look at the pattern.

Looking a bit closer I think you are correct, there does seem to be a one and half brick pier on the end, I thought it extended all the way along but no.

stuart45

Shoxt3r said:

Thanks Stuart.
When I measured the wall height it was coming out at 1.25 metres to the top of the "soldiers"?

On another note I've been quoted £1,850 so far which includes all materials and labour (I'm asking for a full, written and broken down quote however as it isn't very detailed).

Is the quote for a 9 inch wall, with drainage behind, and also checking for adequate foundations. I wouldn't bother with the Basket weave bond at the bottom again, that would be a weak spot.
If it includes all of the above it's a fair price.  

Shoxt3r

neilmcl said:

grumbler said:

neilmcl said:

stuart45 said:

Yours is a half brick wall. Max 525mm.

That's not a half brick wall, it's a one and a half brick.

It's one and a half on the left side (pillar). The rest is half brick - just look at the pattern.

Looking a bit closer I think you are correct, there does seem to be a one and half brick pier on the end, I thought it extended all the way along but no.

Correct, it's 1 1/2 brick on the pillar but half brick along the wall and around on the partition as well.
I see it as single brick but guess it's known as half brick in the trade?

stuart45 said:

Shoxt3r said:

Thanks Stuart.
When I measured the wall height it was coming out at 1.25 metres to the top of the "soldiers"?

On another note I've been quoted £1,850 so far which includes all materials and labour (I'm asking for a full, written and broken down quote however as it isn't very detailed).

Is the quote for a 9 inch wall, with drainage behind, and also checking for adequate foundations. I wouldn't bother with the Basket weave bond at the bottom again, that would be a weak spot.
If it includes all of the above it's a fair price.  

The builder discussed with me yesterday that they would re-build the wall as it stands but also include drainage running underneath the existing concrete, investigate the foundations and possibly need to concrete in to give the new wall sufficient foundations if required. Yes, they agreed that the weave wouldn't be needed and to be honest it isn't in-keeping with the rest of our terrace so we're happy to ditch it - also as you say it's a weak spot.

However, this particular builder sent the quote via text message with no real breakdown so I've asked for a fully broken down quote to be sent via email. They also haven't mentioned about following any "new regulations" as another builder has. The second builder who did mention about "new regulations" have yet to provide us with a quote so I guess we'll see with that one (they did say it would need to be double-skinned due to the height, as per my original post).

Thanks all for the replies so far. 

stuart45

If it was mine I would have a 9 inch wall.

Shoxt3r

True, it would make sense to ensure security and go with a 1 1/2 brick wall to add some rigidity.
Anyway...suffice to say we're not going with the builder that quoted £1,850 originally. It turns out, after they sent a breakdown quote to me via email, over £300 was added onto the original quote and it includes over £1,000 in labour! They did say they would throw in the drainage for free though... 
Hopefully we get some more sensible quotes soon though it does seem likely we'll need to go with the new regulations so thank you all for clarifying.

stuart45

Important that you find out exactly how they are going to rebuild the wall. 
The best job would be to cut the inside concrete back so the whole of the new wall will sit on the foundation (new one if needed).
Then a new double wall either bonded together with headers, or stretchers with stainless steel wall ties. 
Important for a garden wall to be built with decent bricks. If using a brick on edge on top as a coping, something like a Staffordshire Blue is ideal for the coping. 2 courses of creasing tiles under the brick on edge is even better.
All of this depends on your budget, so you may have to compromise.