Damaged brickwork after cement render removed

[Scott C]

The cement render on my Edwardian house is being removed to be replaced with a Lime render. The problem is that quite a bit of damage had been done to the brick faces in the process of removal. I was surprised at the level of damage (probably 90% of the bricks have facial damage) but have been reassured by my lime plasterer (who is doing the removal also) that this is quite normal and will have little effect once the lime render is applied. Is this correct?

I'm sure this must have been discussed in detail previously (probably numerous times) but I can't seem to find the discussion thread on the forum. Plenty of posts pointing out that sometimes it may be better to leave the cement render on than to damage the bricks underneath, however in my case the damage has already been done. What is/will be the consequence of this? Should anything be done to the brickwork before the first coat of lime is applied? What are peoples experiences of this?

Many thanks in advance.

Scott

 

[Feltwell]

Hi Scott

It's very hard, sometimes impossible, to get cement render off without damaging the face of the bricks. If the house is being re-rendered properly in lime - no cement in the mix at all - then you are doing exactly the right thing. The damage to the bricks will not matter to your finished wall, your plasterer is correct, provided of course that it is just face damage and not deep enough to have structural implications.

Sometimes the argument is made that it's better to leave cement render on if it's not causing any problems and the wall is not damp rather than risk damage getting the render off.

 

[Zebra]

This may not be very helpful, since I'm not speaking from experience, yet, but I do have a very similar situation, and it would seem to me that it would be of little consequence once the lime render is applied - as long as the brickwork is structurally sound. I have removed render from my 17th Century cottage, and in some places the bricks have lost their faces. Where it's really bad, i.e. bricks are totally cracked and crumbling, I have removed them and replaced them with other bricks which came from a part of the chimney that had fallen down i.e. the same old soft stocks - not modern bricks. I have also replaced the lime mortar to whatever depth was necessary, as the old stuff was just powder, and the wall is now looking a lot more solid and sound. I will do the same as you i.e. render in lime over the top. So as I said this might not be very helpful but I guess it depends on what sort of condition the wall is in now, whether it needs repairing before rendering or not.

 

[AMc]

FWIW the damage to the house was done when the cement was applied not as you're removing it. Cement is damn hard and old soft brick will bond to it and come off the worse when you try and separate them.
Once the cement is off and you've flipped/replaced the worst and repaired the pointing the render will cover a multitude of problems.
I think you can trust your plasterer on this one.

 

[Scott C]

Thanks for the replies/advice on my brickwork. Always thought it must be the right thing to do to get that cement of the house but concerning to see the damage caused in the process. Good to hear that this will be outweighed by the benefits of the lime render. I can now almost hear the house breath. Looking forward to getting the first scratch coat on (after a few minor repairs to the worst of the damaged bricks).

Thanks again for the comforting replies.

Scott