Out of plumb wall

[Craig]

How out of plumb can a wall be? We have cut off the render on the retaining wall in the rear lightwell and the wall has got a bulge in the middle. I would estimate that over a metre (measured from the ground), it comes out c. 10mm. Total bulge might be c. 20mm/30mm or so at worst, and then it goes back in as it comes to the top.

The wall isnt in great nick and we will be patching bricks back in where they fell out, but if the wall needs rebuilding, now is the time. Though it would mean dealing with a huge excavation in the garden in order to avoid it collapsing into the lightwell as the wall is removed...

Any thoughts would be very welcome?

Many thanks in advance
Craig

 

[NT]

I think the main q is whether its stable or still moving. 1cm/1m is a fairly steep bulge but not enough to cause it to fall down, but if its still moving then there would be a problem that needs sorting sooner rather than later.

IANAS tho

NT

 

[Craig]

Thanks NT. The movement point is a good one - I think we will render it and see how it goes, as we have only been here a year or two and the render is so knackered that its hard to tell.

Oddly enough, IAAS, but the wrong type

 

[Mark]

1cm in 1m ?

Thats pretty good I would say - you should see the first brick wall I built!

If its a bulge in a retaining wall I would have the render off and check the exposed wall for the state of the pointing. Is there any chance that a drain is delivering water behind the wall ?

 

[Craig]

There is a drain behind, and we will be checking that out. We may also consider laying a french drain behind to help stop run off from the garden.

 

[biffvernon]

My belief is that buildings would look a lot nicer if nobody ever used a plumbline or a spirit level. And they wouldn't fall down any quicker.

(If you build a 10 storey house it jolly well deserves to fall down as you are blocking someone else's view.)

 

[Penners]

A brick wall can be considered definitely unstable when you find bricks on the ground.

Prior to that, it's just impossible to tell whether a bit of a bulge is (a) the way it was built a long time ago and hasn't moved since, (b) something that developed a long time ago and hasn't moved since, or (c) an imminent disaster.

As has already been suggested, I should watch it carefully to see whether there's any hint of movement.

 

[NT]

As has already been suggested, I should watch it carefully to see whether there's any hint of movement.

You have to hold your head very very still to do that. A head clamp is recommended.

NT

 

[Penners]

At my age, NT, lack of movement is a doddle.

By the way, your tags still don't seem to work. Your syntax looks correct, but the tags are just printed as text. Is your computer electric or steam-powered?

 

[Carol]

Just steer well clear of striped wall paper to avoid a breakdown :lol:

 

[Penners]

Just steer well clear of striped wall paper to avoid a breakdown

Carol - I've always found that wallpaper works best indoors!

 

[NT]

At my age, NT, lack of movement is a doddle.

By the way, your tags still don't seem to work. Your syntax looks correct, but the tags are just printed as text. Is your computer electric or steam-powered?

Its a large machine, I tried to find the site that gives you the tour of it, but I cant seem to find anything these days. My indexing is all breaking down. Maybe it needs some new valves.


NT

 

[NT]

Here we go...

http://www.ominous-valve.com/tour.html

NT

 

[Penners]

Aaaah - that explains the problem. You've got the Mark 6. You need to upgrade to the Mark 7, with the new double-decker front side bus.

 

[NT]

Not sure I've got the budget Penners, what with the energy price rises and all. I've had to cut back on flash as it uses too much coal for the CPU already.


NT