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would you bother?
- Thread starter robgil
- Start date
skier-hughes
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- Staffs, UK
A lot of work for very little gain in my opinion.
Penners
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- Suffolk, England
It's difficult to comment based on a photo of three bricks.
If that's the extent of the brick deterioration, I think I would replace them. But if that's simply a small sample of a full run of crumbling bricks, then I think only you can really make an informed judgement on their likely ability to support the sole plate for the foreseeable future. It's all depends on whether you feel they have sufficient stability left in them. If so, then you may feel OK about just encasing them in lime plaster.
But ultimately, if you do have to replace them, it's not such a huge job, is it? I would just take it a section at a time, allowing the mortar to harden fully for each replaced section before moving on to the next, so that the sole plate is never under too much unsupported stress.
If that's the extent of the brick deterioration, I think I would replace them. But if that's simply a small sample of a full run of crumbling bricks, then I think only you can really make an informed judgement on their likely ability to support the sole plate for the foreseeable future. It's all depends on whether you feel they have sufficient stability left in them. If so, then you may feel OK about just encasing them in lime plaster.
But ultimately, if you do have to replace them, it's not such a huge job, is it? I would just take it a section at a time, allowing the mortar to harden fully for each replaced section before moving on to the next, so that the sole plate is never under too much unsupported stress.
Flyfisher
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We can't really judge the 'crumbliness' (1) of the bricks from a photo, but if the remaining parts are solid then it looks as if the plinth is still doing its job of supporting the sole plate. Since you're intending to plaster over the bricks anyway, I agree with Skier that replacing the bricks is a lot of work for little gain. Plus, you'd be throwing out original material that's still doing its job.
On the other hand, if the bricks are so soft and/or damaged that they're not providing a solid base then I agree with Penners that it shouldn't be too big a job to replace them section-by-section.
(1) I trust you're marvelling at my command of such specialised technical terms.
On the other hand, if the bricks are so soft and/or damaged that they're not providing a solid base then I agree with Penners that it shouldn't be too big a job to replace them section-by-section.
(1) I trust you're marvelling at my command of such specialised technical terms.
the remaining brick does look solid enough, that is whats left of them.
what seems to have gone wrong is the concrete floor butted up to the top course of brick, the DPM under the floor fell short of the edge of the slab by a good 8 - 10 inches. this must have been an escape route for moisture gathering under the floor , the only escape was through the soft brick.
the plinth is definitely still doing its job , if i fill it out with lime mortar then plaster over the mortar i think it should hold things together.
its a strange bond , its an old english bond but with a double layer of headers for the top two courses of the plinth .
what seems to have gone wrong is the concrete floor butted up to the top course of brick, the DPM under the floor fell short of the edge of the slab by a good 8 - 10 inches. this must have been an escape route for moisture gathering under the floor , the only escape was through the soft brick.
the plinth is definitely still doing its job , if i fill it out with lime mortar then plaster over the mortar i think it should hold things together.
its a strange bond , its an old english bond but with a double layer of headers for the top two courses of the plinth .