Help! Drying external brickwork

[emily1165]

Hello,

We have recently moved into a Victorian terrace and had some work done to support a purlin in the roof. The roofer used a scaffolding company who split the gutter at the front, which was then subject to some very heavy rainfall and not rectified for a week. It has since left a large, significant stain on the front of our home, and is starting to go green.

The roofer has proposed drying out the external wall with heat (under a self-made cover), and has asked that we be home to keep an eye on things. He says it should only take a couple of hours to see some progress.

This is the first time we have ever encountered something like this so we are naturally very nervous! Does anybody have any experience or advice in this area?

My first thoughts (aside from safety!) is whether this could damage the bricks or even shatter the windows...

Thank you in advance!

Emily

 

[alexander]

while heat will indeed dry out the outer wall covering very quickly it will not dry out the middle of the wall only time will do that, providing it is still the original lime plaster/mortar your looking at at least a year.

 

[Flyfisher]

My immediate thought would be to wonder how wet the wall actually became after just one week of a leaking gutter. But assuming the wall really is completely soaked through (are there any signs of damp inside the house?) then alexander above is right to say it could take a long time to thoroughly dry out all the way through.

An oft repeated rule of thumb in these here parts is to allow one month per inch of wall thickness for a wall to thoroughly dry, though this will vary quite a bit depending on the wall material and the prevailing weather.

I'm a little surprised that the wall is starting to go green so quickly. Presumably this is moss/litchen growth, in which case it should be easy eough to remove when the wall has thoroughly dried, though it would be helpful to know the type of wall - eg bare brick, painted render, etc. A photo would be even better.

As long as the guttering is now properly repaired, I'd just leave things well alone and let time do its thing.

 

[a twig]

Generally air movement across the face of the wall will dry things quicker than heat pointed at it - you’d likely get more effective results with a large fan blowing air at a shallow angle to the wall.

Realistically though a heater won’t get anything hot enough to damage walls / windows unless you have a gas space heater blasting hot air at it from 2 inches away