taking cement render off brick and preserving powdering bric

[robgil]

my brick fireplaces are crumbling , well , the victorian one is but the older one has got cement render all over most of it.
now , i take it i will/might need a breaker drill to remove the render? or would that be too harsh? ive been using a lump hammer and bolster but not to remove render off brick.
from what i can gather the previous builder who applied the render liked to use a lot of cement and very little sand , its really rock.


and , how do i preserve my crumbling bricks on the exposed fire place? they are damp and powdery and the face of the brick has long since departed.

 

[Jon Maine]

You could try skimmed milk for the powdering bricks, this contains caesin, try one give it a couple of coats and see if it binds it back together.

As for removing the render you just have to use your head, :lol: If it is stuck on that well it could be that it is almost impossible to salvage the bricks without damage. Experiment and try a few techniques see how you get on.

 

[robgil]

skimmed milk eh? i will certainly give it a go , thanks. some of those bricks look quite bad and i was thinking the worst for them, id rather not replace any if i can get away with it. it may be that i have to put a lime render over them so would the powdery surface be a problem for the render to grip to?

the powdery chimney in the pics above are the least of my worries , at least i can see what is going on there. the other chimney is completely covered from head to foot in cement render except where it passes through the roof , when i look up the chimney i can see light holes around this point. i guess i should try the least damaging method first , a small hammer and chisel? i have thought about using acid but i dread the thought of coating anything in acid.

 

[Jon Maine]

skimmed milk eh? i will certainly give it a go , thanks. some of those bricks look quite bad and i was thinking the worst for them, id rather not replace any if i can get away with it. it may be that i have to put a lime render over them so would the powdery surface be a problem for the render to grip to?

the powdery chimney in the pics above are the least of my worries , at least i can see what is going on there. the other chimney is completely covered from head to foot in cement render except where it passes through the roof , when i look up the chimney i can see light holes around this point. i guess i should try the least damaging method first , a small hammer and chisel? i have thought about using acid but i dread the thought of coating anything in acid.

You could cheat and "tile" the columns with cut down brick slips and point, over the top of the cement. You can even get corner bricks cut too.

Alternatively with the bad bricks if you cant firm them up you could mesh and render with a coloured mix and tuck point it to make up the brickwork, this is a repair technique used on the brickwork at St Pancras I noted.

 

[robgil]

interesting stuff , the brick slip idea sounds good. would it be difficult to get a match? they wouldn't have to be perfect although i presume they would look like sharp new bricks and thus may look odd? or i may have to do more than needed to try and blend them in? although i guess new bricks would have the same effect.
never heard of the mesh and render method before but isn't tuck pointing quite a specialist job?
this house isnt listed so i guess i do have some freedom with it although at the moment i am treating it as if it were , just without the long wait for lbc for each particular job.

 

[Jon Maine]

I expect if you talk to these people or other similar companies they will help you

http://www.yorkbrick.co.uk/bricks.html

 

[robgil]

lovely , thank you. i may attempt the sill plate on the right in the pics first but apart from that , the floor (concrete) and the fire place that room is pretty much good to go. oh and the ceiling needs lath and plastered in places , i am sure i will find more to do in it but one room at a time is the way we are going so i need to see what's what then prioritise jobs i guess , or just do them all at once and create a huge mess.

 

[Jon Maine]

do them all at once and create a huge mess.

:shock: :shock:

 

[c r]

I remember this from an older thread, theres a little tuck pointing video on this site

http://www.historicbrickpointing.co.uk/gallery.htm

 

[robgil]

that looks like a great thing to do , the attention to detail really is something , its a tempting skill to learn but would it look right in this application? its only a humble little 16c cottage and it may make the fire place look too grand or too 'crisp' if that makes any sense?