render, repoint, paint, or run away?

VonRaff

Hi folks, 

When I bought my house, this wall had been hastily "built" around a huge pile of soil which had been excavated during re-landscaping. I just put down some weed membrane and gravelled over it. 

You can see how the previous owner started to build the wall with mortar and then just gave up and piled the bricks up. the overall structure feels very solid, considering. it's 2 bricks deep all the way round.  But it's pretty ugly, so I'm wondering if I can render over it? Or if anyone had any other suggestions, I'd really appreciate it. 

(those timber sleepers are just resting on top of the wall.

markin

Render would soon blow off, you could paint it dark, but it may not last more than a year with the bricks being very wet.

danrv

If you want to keep the raised area then maybe point the bricks as best as you can. 
Cover with timber panelling if appearance is still an issue.

markin

If you repoint you would need lots of of weep holes to stop water building up and pushing it out.  

VonRaff

thanks for the tips 👍🏻