Customer Stories

Brickwork Bulging at Party Wall

This mid-terrace period property in the London borough of Lambeth had been converted into flats. The brickwork above the extension at the rear of the property was bulging.

The bowing had reached the point where the entire section of the brick wall was liable to collapse. AWT provided cost-effective structural repairs with minimal disruption to the residents and neighbours.

The brick wall required realignment and strengthening to prevent the problem from recurring. Previous attempts to halt the bowing using standard building techniques had only provided a temporary, cosmetic repair of the mortar gaps and cracks. It had failed to tackle the cause of the progressive brickwork bulge.

AWT provided cost-effective structural repairs with minimal disruption to the residents and neighbours.

The Structural Problem

The photo below clearly shows how much the brickwork had bulged compared to the neighbouring property. The masonry was bulged beyond the tipping point i.e. at risk of imminent collapse.

The rear wall had a severe bulge in the 2nd storey masonry that stretched as far as the party wall line. A section of the rear wall was bowing away from the upright line of the adjoining property.

The AWT survey team diagnosed the problem as progressive due to ageing materials, ineffective/inadequate restraining and de-bonding brickwork. It was common practice in buildings of this age for a 9-inch wall to be constructed as two ½ brick walls with snapped headers to the external skin to save on expensive facing bricks.

Debonded brickwork is a common issue in Victorian/Edwardian-era properties. The header bricks that tie the inner and outer layers of brickwork together can snap or crack due to age, weathering or being over-stressed. Many properties were also built with too few header bricks making the brickwork liable to bow under the weight of the structure above.

The Structural Solution

To stabilise the bowed area of brickwork the team used AWT-designed supports and realigning equipment to straighten the existing external brickwork. This avoided large-scale rebuilding work. Only the most severely compromised area of brickwork was deconstructed and rebuilt. Once the detached brickwork was reunited to reform a solid brick wall it was strengthened further by pinning and reinforcing.

To prevent a recurrence of the problem, AWT used precision drilling techniques to instal stainless steel fixings within the masonry to strengthen it and restrain it:

• Bed Joint Reinforcement Beaming
• Grout tie injection
• Lateral restraints

The formation of continuous beams within the existing masonry redistributes the upper-storey loads and restrains the brickwork from any tendency to bulge.

Replacement bricks (where required) and the new mortar were matched to the existing texture and colour. AWT’s specialist techniques do not require visible fixings, making it ideal for period properties.

Action Wall Ties are specialist structural repair contractors with the knowledge and experience required to repair period properties with severe brickwork defects, such as bulging brick walls.  AWT work with property owners, structural engineers, architects, project managers and local authorities on large and small projects.

AWT are available across London, Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex. To arrange a survey or to discuss project details, please use our contact form, email us or call us on 01227 721 255.