Brick Wall Repair

Danny30

Hi all. Sometime ago I put up a picture of a brick wall on the forum that I intended to repair.
I only managed to start getting to it now and upon clearing the old paint and loose mortar, it looks like a lot more work then I had hoped for (picture below) 

I intended to mix sand and cement for the damaged bricks face and to use as mortar.
Can anyone please advise if that is the correct thing to use for such a wall?

Danny30

Sorry to. Bump post. Anyone have any idea if cement would be adequate for the wall above? 

grumbler

Mortar is good for repointing. If you really want to 'repair' the bricks, IMO it's better just to clean the wall and render it instead.

Instead of rendering you can try fixing a cement board to the wall and paint it.

Danny30

grumbler said:

Mortar is good for repointing. If you really want to 'repair' the bricks, IMO it's better just to clean the wall and render it instead.

Instead of rendering you can try fixing a cement board to the wall and paint it.

Thank you @grumbler.  I haven't heard of cement wall.
So would I just screw it to the wall and would there be an issues in between the gap from the sheet to the wall? 

grumbler

https://www.knauf.co.uk/store/aquapanel-cement-board-outdoor/c-23/p-555 - just an example.

I don't see any issues, especially if you seal the gap between the board and the wall at the top. And I'd use stainless steel screws for fixing.

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi Danny.

How do you want it to look when you've finished? And will you be painting it again?

Danny30

grumbler said:

https://www.knauf.co.uk/store/aquapanel-cement-board-outdoor/c-23/p-555 - just an example.

I don't see any issues, especially if you seal the gap between the board and the wall at the top. And I'd use stainless steel screws for fixing.

Thank you. What would be best to seal it with? 

Danny30

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Hi Danny.

How do you want it to look when you've finished? And will you be painting it again?

Hi Jeepers, I was intending to paint it again when done.
I just want it to look nice so my wife is happy as the garden is a bit of a mess so we are trying to make patio area nice. She doesn't like the rustic look unfortunately 

grumbler

Danny30 said:

grumbler said:

https://www.knauf.co.uk/store/aquapanel-cement-board-outdoor/c-23/p-555 - just an example.

I don't see any issues, especially if you seal the gap between the board and the wall at the top. And I'd use stainless steel screws for fixing.

What would be best to seal it with? 

I'd just apply a thin strip of mortar at the top before fixing the board, then add some to the gap at the top after fixing if needed.  You can add some waterproofer to the mortar.

Jeepers_Creepers

Danny30 said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Hi Danny.

How do you want it to look when you've finished? And will you be painting it again?

Hi Jeepers, I was intending to paint it again when done.
I just want it to look nice so my wife is happy as the garden is a bit of a mess so we are trying to make patio area nice. She doesn't like the rustic look unfortunately 

But smooth (rendered) or still looking like brick? To render it to get a smooth flat surface is doable as it's in smallish areas - there are tricks and tips you can follow. However, what will you do with the pillars - fit angle corner beads?

Are the existing mortar lines soft and crumbly?

Jeepers_Creepers

The very simplest solution to just make what you have look ok would be to scrape off the worst of the paint, wire-brush the rest (ie, make sure there are no loose or flaky bits), give it all a darned good coating of Everbuild Stabilising solution 406 - applying further wet coats until it stops being drawn in - allowing it to dry fully, and then painting it in a very dark shade with masonry paint - charcoal or very dark green, for example, whatever fits in with the rest of your scheme.

Yes, it'll still be 'rustic', but not nearly as obvious.