lifting floor bricks and pamments

[AMc]

I need to lift and relay some original, handmade floor bricks that have started to rock because the lime mortar they were laid on wasn't done properly to begin with back in 2009.

They're close laid with virtually no gaps (<2mm), as they are handmade they are all slightly different and interlock very closely which means the same brick has to go into the same hole in the same orientation.
I can ease most of them out, excavate some of the bed and relay them with fresh mortar or a few others come with them and the whole patch gets relaid.

I have a couple that are rocking but jammed in and the bricks around them are well stuck and I can't shift them either. If left the rockers have a tendency to break which is ugly.

Any ideas how I can get the problem ones out without having to relay the whole lot?

 

[johnobirches]

This might work but experiment first on a piece of brick you've already removed...

Get a glue gun (one that melts those glue sticks and squeezes the glue out) and glue a pice of scrap wood or kindling to the rocking brick with three or four big blobs of glue. It will set in seconds.
If the glue sticks ok to the brick AND COMES OFF EASILY AFTERWARDS - SEE BELOW you can then lever and pull against the piece of wood and hopefully pull out the brick.

This sort of glue can usually (hence the experiment first!) be cleanly prized off a smooth surface sideways with a blade or scraper.

If the surface of the bricks is really smooth and non porous some sort of sucker might also help - we used to have some coat hooks which attached to a door with a sucker operated by a lever action, they were really strong.
Cheers
John

 

[AMc]

Cheers, I tried a glass lifter but the surface isn't smooth enough even with a bit of water.

Not thought of the glue gun -I wonder if I've got a spare brick with the same finish in on it?...

 

[AMc]

Brilliant - one pamment with a wooden handle - finally lifted it clean out.
I'll be leaving it on until I've relaid it so I can hoik it in and out without fuss.
Bed underneath one of the "original" bits of floor is in even worse state that the one done by my clueless brick layer friend. I can see now why this one moved presumably when one of the builders dropped something heavy on it.
I can also see how the ants undermined it...

 

[AMc]

“Handle” removed with only a minor bit of damage to the "patina" (a.k.a. muck of ages) on the surface.
Hopefully the kitchen floor will remain wobbless for a while (but previous experience leads me to doubt it).

 

[dans]

I'm having to re lay my pamment flooring which has been covered with carpet for AT LEAST 60 years! All of them are just loose sitting on a very old line base...

Can anyone recommend the best way to relay the pamments? Simply bedded in with a hydraulic line mortar? Any DPM?

Once in, would you leave untreated?

 

[AMc]

My original floor was laid on a loose lime/sand base once one pamment was removed they lifted one after another with virtually no effort. They'd been like that for at least 100 years.

I had to lift my whole floor, dig down and lay oversite, insulation and screed for wet underfloor heating. This was part of a major renovation and conversion which needed building control approval. As I wasn't going to be able to go for breathable solutions in the walls and the sub soil was bone dry I decided to use concrete (sorry) and DPM. Creating a non breathing solid wall house is a big decision and I thought long and hard before I did it.

The final floor pamments were laid in hydrate lime mortar - this failed because it was poorly laid (not continuous mortar bed under each pamment), not kept moist and wasn't allowed to carbonate before the builders started walking on it.
The choice of lime was primarily that the original floor materials could be lifted and relaid in future rather than set forever in concrete - the next person might want to rearrange the space.
A secondary concern was the lower environmental impact of lime versus cement.
Doing my floor again I would probably use NHL based mortar for the benefit of the faster set.

Relaying why?
If the floor is sound and not damp, I would consider leaving it alone or patching any small areas. If you have to lift it then you might want to consider more significant excavation to incorporate some insulation which could make a big difference to comfort levels (depending on the size of the room).
The decision to use a DPM is not easy, if the floor is already very wet then you may feel that there is good cause but bear in mind a DPM in the floor may move the damp problem to the walls.
If the floor isn't wet now then unless you change something else it should stay dry - in theory - providing you use breathable materials.