Poor Quality Brickwork - Need Advice

Hi All,

We are currently building a new home and we are particularly concerned with the quality of
the brickwork.
The mortar looks of poor quality and appears very sandy, it is not uniform. There are cracks appearing in the mortar already and we haven't even moved in
There are bricks that do not appear level, also there are up to 2cm
gaps around windows and doors.
Can any one provide their opinion into the quality of workman ship and would be the best course of action to have the builder rectify this

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Heaps

Get a private building inspector to go and inspect your build, they will do a detailed report for you and the builder and make recommendations. They don’t ‘have’ to make repairs but they need to justify why they won’t and you will have more evidence to take to fair trading if you need to.

Definitely get an independent inspector , Kspec is fabulous if in qld at $250 per stage and only needing to choose which stage u want inspecting it is worth every cent !!!!!

mralex34
You will need to get an engineer to check & verify the brickwork "is fit for purpose as per AS3700"
From the photos It appears they have used a plasticiser with a lime based mortar which will effect durability and strength.
There will be other engineering issues as well that a building inspector will not be able to deal with...
Do you have your engineering Specifications/Drawings? Goodluck

Thanks All,

Will be arranging a building inspector - will keep you posted as to the outcome,

I Will have to go through the filing and see exactly what drawings we have on hand

Thanks for the opinions and keep the coming, they are much appreciated

Thanks again

That is NOT good enough - looks like an apprentice did that on his first day - I wouldn't accept it.
Tell your inspector your especial concerns with the brick. They'll pay very close attention.

Mine is similar sandy appearance and defective and ** workmanship, it will be re-done by builder but the only way to get it hidden is rendering the whole house or re-
grouting it.

That brickwork was done by an amateur! Our brickies were very slow but did a great job. Definetly get a building inspector in, and give your builder the report. If they have gone against the Australian standards you have a strong case against them if it ever goes to court. Minor cracks don’t worry about as they should repoint before handing house over to you. Best of luck!

Not many builder will do that a lot of brickies get their jobs done by amateurs nowadays as there is such shortage of brickies in the market, he might be doing someone else job and assigned the amatuer another job with minimal supervision to check his work, standards are falling in this country.

Was your builder happy to fix it or did you end up with a fight on your hands to get it fixed.
Did you re-grout or get it rendered?

Was your builder happy to fix it or did you end up with a fight on your hands to get it fixed.
Did you re-grout or get it rendered?

Hi All,

We have had an independent building Inspector inspect the property who agreed poor
workmanship and also recommended we carry out a mortar test,

We have had a mortar test carried out which results found:
Erosion and voids present
Cavities present within the mortar work
Surface defects visible from 1.5m
Excess residual Chloride from brick cleaning

They found the Ratio to be:
1 part cement
0.0 parts lime
5.3 parts sand
Results have come back as passed as per As3700

Just a bit concerned about the no lime factor, Is it recommended to use Lime in the Mortar mix?

If the mortar is to Australian Standard how should I address the poor quality workmanship?

Thanks Heaps

Following .....let me know what the fix was

There is no requirement for lime unless stated in the engineering notes
All photographic evidence points to the uses of excess water,Chemical & Plasticisers..did you have the composition analysis?

What time/month of the year was the brickwork completed, weather conditions,etc?

I have my suspicions but you need to have an engineer check the structure, you have already wasted time and money on a Building inspector to no avail without result.

OT I always recommend that the battlers & Punters have structural elements/components independently checked/accessed during construction by a qualified engineer. here's why
1. The evidence would have been there on site now it's a missed opportunity
2. Remedies/Fixes could have been implemented then and there
3. No one remembers what was said and done 12 months before ..
Goodluck

Hi StructuralBIMGuy

I have gone through the engineering notes on the plans. It states

"Use brick as selected and M3 (1:1:6) mortar.

So from this our mortar does not meet the plans.

Below is results of the mortar test.



Is this a breach due to current mortar does not meet engineering plans?

Thanks heaps.

mralex34
Thanks for the info but you need to put photos up..Do you know what cement was used,Brand?
The report only shows chemical composition it does not deal with Strength, Durability and Engineering Requirements under AS3700 Masonry Codes.
If you have photos & Info you can go back and check these items here
Boral Technical Manual