I wish I’d known about you last year. The builder we used, who was recommended to us by friends, ruined the front of our house. He ground off a few mls from the edge of every brick when removing old lime mortar. Now our wall has tiny bricks and huge courses of mortar. It was such a pretty house and now it’s ruined. I almost feel like crying when I look at it. We tried so hard to get it done right. We made sure to get a guy who was highly recommended and was experienced in using lime mortar, and we were willing to pay the price for proper work. He still destroyed our house. He also left mortar smeared all over the brickwork. To try to minimise the damage I’m going to have to try to clean the brickwork myself this summer, and will tint the mortar to age it and minimise its impact. As it is right now, it looks like a sloppily made 1970s shed with 15mm mortar courses, instead a beautiful Victorian home which once had courses half that thick. Just to clarify - the cowboy who ruined our brickwork is NOT the chap in this video. His work looks beautiful. For all the homeowners out there. Please, be more careful than careful. We thought we’d done everything right, and still our house was destroyed. Having to pay the vandal of a builder for the privilege of a ruined house makes it all the worse. If I had all the money in the world, I’d get the front of the house rebricked, since that’s the only way to repair the damage done. When we finally get the rear wall of our house done, I’ll be looking for someone who does careful work like you did here. It looks lovely. Do you cover Shropshire?
Lovely work again, You should do a full video with a guide to drying times for scraping, brushing, hessian sheeting etc. Protecting "trade secrets" of a dying art is pointless when so many numpties are using concrete on these older properties because they don't know any better. This isn't something your average homeowner will undertake and quality workmanship will speak for itself and should keep you busy!
I employed a so-called dampproofing firm to take out the old wall ties and refit new ones. I heard a lot of smashing of bricks and I went out to see what was going on. The workmen were smashing every brick into the cavity and I told them I wanted the bricks cut out with an angle grinder, they said the morter was too hard and that was the only way they could do it. I had to clean out the bridged cavities to retrieve the rubble they had filled it with.
@@penman1289 You are correct, there are so many people working as tradesmen, but when it comes to doing the job they haven't a clue. they missed loads of bad wall ties because they just didn't know how to find them. I ended up fitting the ties myself and cleaning up their mess.
@@andyjardine8192 All I seem to get these days is cowboys. They see I am getting on in years and they try to shaft me. I had my own building business before I retired and I have forgotten more than they will ever know about building. I have yet to find a decent builder or roofer in my area. They all talk a good game but when it comes to doing the job their lack of skill shines through. There are a few decent plasterers about but they charge the earth and are very hard to get.
Excellent work. I did this to the rear of my house and you should have seen how much debris came out... Even a dead bird and an old chisel when the house was built (1935). Unfortunately when you come to sell the property the survey will come back and say "lack of ventilation"... Would you install an air brick to avoid this sort of "comment" or not?
I have a breached cavity wall in my cellar which was very damp. Realised why when i dug down outside to the level of the gas pipe and found they had not sealed the hole where the pipe came in from the road. So water (and earth) was entering the cavity and making the celllar wall and floor wet inside. I had wondered if it would be possible to remove the dirt this way. So thanks for the confirmation.
That is a common problem in cavity walls constructed without insulation. Much less common now due to ´Rockwool´ batts or cellulose slab installed during the build.
Hi, I have to do very similar job, but need to install air Rick instead old imperial. I couldn’t find any information on the web as to how to install air bricks into solid brick wall of an old house. I am planing to install additional two air brick at the front of the bay wall due to damp issues. One is already there placed in the middle. It is a solid brick wall house was built back in 1900. My question, due to structural integrity reasons do I need to install lintel when installing air brick. Wall is pretty thick, more than 200 mm. Would appreciate any advice really. Many thanks.
Out of interest what could I expect to pay to get done from a local builder? A house I'm looking at buying need this done too all external walls, damp pretty bad. The house is only a small 2/3 bed around 72 SQ M
Hi there, would you advise to put cavity insulation back in? If so could it go below dpc? I’m asking as I have done this job and a builder has told me it could cause cold bridges… your opinion would be lovely cheers
Removing the bricks isnt what cures the issue. The removal of the bricks allow him to remove the build up of dust in the cavity which is essentially acting as a pathway for the moisture to get above/around the damp proof course. The layer of slate you can see in the wall prevents moisture from the ground getting to the bricks above. If the dust has built up from the floor below the slate and has reached a height above the slate which contacts the bricks above it creates what is known as a "bridge" for the moisture to travel upwards and cause the issues associated with damp. So the removal of the dust and build up cures the damp issue. But the bricks are removed so he can access the cavity where the build up has occured
@@justCommando the build up of dust etc shouldn't reoccur once hes dealt with it. Air bricks are installed where circulation is required underneath raised floors. In this case I dont think it would be necessary but each problem needs to be properly assessed.
@@shereeamour3412 They're given to us when we're born. Even we don't know we've got them until they're activated by codes. Then... well... all hell breaks loose and we spend the next 5 years learning how to restrain ourselves. It's very difficult.
This new video will be of interest to you. Prevention is always better than the cure. :) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0zRACxKThnY.html
I bet they've had a bit of repointing done in cement of the years. mid terraced houses are usually lime mortar. but that's a guess as I can't see your house
You could teach the so called Skillbuilder a lot he seems to like drilling and sticking stupid sealants in , but he is famous so we’re supposed to trust him !!!!
So the problem was caused by the original builders Inserting 75/100 mm Insulation between the outer and inner doesn't make sense to me as you are stopping airflow.. Creating issues for the future...all self induced
Probably built just after the second world war using what they had top men on the front improvers round the back you should see what was done in Germany