wall woes and ohs!

[fluffytail10]

Hello everyone, i haven't been here for a while but am back with wall questions.
While trying to shift some ivy I have made a couple of discoveries; the first being a very strange section of wall which seems to be made out of layers of mud. It is about 1m tall and about 2m long and 30cm thick. There is no facing on either side and seems to be made of layers of mud about an 3cm thick. Was it meant to be like this or has some kind of facing fallen off? I really like it though so would like to protect it, how should i do that? Is it common in North norfolk to have mud walls? I've never seen one before.

The other wall is a 1.5m tall wonderfull flint wall which surrounds 2 side of our property. As I cut back the ivy, it began to collapse with bricks and stones falling out all over. I'm not sure whether I should continue removing the ivy, or do I suppose that its the ivy holding it up and leave it alone?

hope you can see pics

 

[Pford75]

Looks to me as if your flint wall has recently been repaired.

The whiteish mortar is most probably lime (although difficult to tell from a photo). The slightly larger spacing would also suggest it was done by someone less expert than the lower courses.

You are correct in that the ivy is probably holding the wall together, but it will also be damaging it further (the ivy gets into the gaps between flints and gradually pulls them apart.

Really, the best solution would be to remove the ivy and reconstruct the flint wall. This can be expensive to have done professionally....you might want to have a go yourself.

 

[MdB]

Hello everyone, i haven't been here for a while but am back with wall questions.
While trying to shift some ivy I have made a couple of discoveries; the first being a very strange section of wall which seems to be made out of layers of mud. It is about 1m tall and about 2m long and 30cm thick. There is no facing on either side and seems to be made of layers of mud about an 3cm thick. Was it meant to be like this or has some kind of facing fallen off? I really like it though so would like to protect it, how should i do that? Is it common in North norfolk to have mud walls? I've never seen one before.

It could be exposed cob or rammed earth. My understanding is it is normal lime rendered but I'm really no expert.

 

[Penners]

Read MdB's response for me, too. If it is rammed earth or cob, I'm sure that it should be properly rendered with lime mortar, in order to protect it from the elements.

 

[MdB]

The modern rammed earth building I will be in tomorrow has only the thinnest coat of lime render on it - something like 5mm. It doesn't seem to be enough and is failing in places.

 

[kevmiles1]

Hard to tell from the pic but it looks like either cob or rammed earth, to protect it from weather it should really be rendered with haired lime mortar two coats and then an unhaired mortar on top

 

[Penners]

Given the Norfolk location, I wonder whether clay lump is the most likely candidate.

 

[robgil]

I was going to say , you dont get cob or rammed earth in Norfolk do you?
Have a look for signs of it being made from large blocks, does it crumble when you rub some between thumb and finger?
On a badly deteriorated clay lump wall its hard to tell one block from another. Can you post a photo of the entire wall rather than just a close up?

 

[fluffytail10]

thankyou for all your replies.
I gave it a feel and it crumbles to dust in my fingers - a very light brown silty type stuff.

This is the only area of the wall you can see as the rest is overgrown with ivy. It seems to be layers of soil stuck on top of each other.

I'm not sure how you could plaster it as the surface is so very uneven! i think you'd have to level it up first - but i'm no expert of course.

I'm thinking that the large amount of ivy is protecting it from rain at the moment and keeping it safe so will probably leave it alone now till I'm sure what to do.

Was this a common method of building walls in norfolk? very cheap i suspect.

xx

 

[Penners]

Yes, clay lump is quite widespread in Norfolk, as is flint.