Browse Forums DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair 1 Mar 10, 2015 8:09 pm Help! My brick wall is dissolving and turning into dust, both inside and outside the wall. It is a single brick wall that is part of a garage. It faces the sun from about 10-2pm. I live on the top of a hill, about 1km from the coast in Geraldton, wa. What can I treat this with? Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 2Mar 10, 2015 9:17 pm Some bricks aren't rated as high as others for external work ( especially a harsh environment like coastal ) and may eventually break down as yours have done. Once they get to this stage I don't think there is much you can do except replace the bricks. Even coating them in some sort of compound or rendering them is probably just putting off the inevitable. Stewie Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 3Mar 10, 2015 9:35 pm most likely it is salt ingress. this can be stopped by treating with a penetrating sealer and a sealer binder. the salt ingresses via the moisture in the air that settles on the bricks and then forms crystals 'blowing' off some of the brick. I imagine it is only superficial but worth monitoring. Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 4Mar 11, 2015 5:10 am To me it looks like Krypto Efflorescence, rising dampness damage caused by failed damp proofing but your photos are not all that conclusive. Is the damage mainly in the lower section of brickwork near ground? Are walls on other elevations affected? Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 6Mar 11, 2015 7:03 am Yes it's always difficult to tell without visiting the site and having a proper inspection It's like ringing your GP and saying "I have a pain in my stomach can you tell me what it is?" It's incredible how many times we get phone calls with people wanting answers over the phone. Get real! Getting back to brickwork, I have seen plenty of brickwork erosion from rising dampness but have not ever heard of clay brick erosion from salty air, in this case 1 km away? It does not seem the cause. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 7Mar 11, 2015 2:40 pm I know two old blocks of units on Manly beach in Sydney whose clay bricks are slowly being eaten away just from the salt. Their DPC's are still pretty good after all these years but that corrosive salt air is a killer. It is right on the beach though so is a pretty harsh environment. Stewie Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 8Mar 11, 2015 11:18 pm That would be interesting to see, I will make a point of it when I am in Sydney next time, although 1 KM is awfully long way for surf mist to catch brickwork I would have thought that sea salt crystallising is not expansive in the same way that mineral salts dissolved in ground can be. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 9Mar 12, 2015 6:31 am After having lived at various places on the Northern Beaches here for 35 years I have seen some places like ours ( 1.2km away from the beach ) still affected by salt spray. With a strong onshore wind and reasonably big surf you can see a light mist rolling in across inland. That would be capable of traveling a fair distance with the wind before settling. Obviously the closer you are the more severe you would be affected. Apart from the obvious things that get affected by salt spray - metal roofs, exposed timber, bricks etc the other thing that seems to get a hammering is terracotta roof tiles - concrete tiles not so much.
Edit : I should add also that the brick ties in a double brick wall are known to rust out pretty quick too especially in older places like I mentioned earlier where all they used were gal ties. These days by law builders are required to use either S/Steel or plastic ties within 5k of the coast. More than a few old walls have collapsed as the original ones had completely rusted away. Quote: I would have thought that sea salt crystallising is not expansive in the same way that mineral salts dissolved in ground can be. You are probably right. I haven't seen any studies comparing the two so I don't know. Stewie Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 10Mar 12, 2015 8:04 am Check that the garden watering system (if installed) is not spraying the lower courses of brickwork. Otherwise it looks like rising damp. I used to live in a beachfront home and all the bricks fretted away (only on the sides of the house facing the sea), not just the lower couple of courses. Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 11Mar 12, 2015 8:21 am I don't have the expertise of others on this forum but do have experience with the damage salt can do. geroranger, what drew my attention to your post was you said there was damage outside and INSIDE the walls. I don't know if it is caused by salt or not but my advice would be to get expert advice and try to identify the cause of the problem rather than just trying to treat the surface of the bricks. I'll add to the general discussion about salt air when I have more time. Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 12Mar 12, 2015 9:21 am I totally agree with moisture ingress with a single skin wall, I am certain the mortar will be porous. The bricks are grit and cement? Also porous. I know Gero reasonable well and the sideways trees are an indication of the 'drive' the wind has onshore. Throw a cup of water on the wall and see if any makes it to the ground, if it is all sucked up then you probably need some action. Age of the construction? Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 13Mar 12, 2015 10:05 am geroranger Help! My brick wall is dissolving and turning into dust, both inside and outside the wall. It is a single brick wall that is part of a garage. It faces the sun from about 10-2pm. I live on the top of a hill, about 1km from the coast in Geraldton, wa. What can I treat this with? Hi geroranger Unfortunately you photos arent that clear but it appears that your mortar joints and bricks are eroding due to wind & enviromental factors? This results from the use of weak aerated mortar Causes 1. Poorly mixed lime & cement mortar with plasticiser used in the water...they should use one or the other not both together 2.For coastal you should use M4 cement mix 3.Mortar joints should be rolled 4.Test the mortar & brick hardness with a key to see if it crumbles 3.Existing crumbling mortar should be raked out and the bricks replaced &repointed with the appropriate cement/mortar mix. As for the brick crumbling there is a problem with the brick manufacture and strength/durability you will need to contact the brick company if its a new house? Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 14Mar 12, 2015 11:15 am Thought these photos might be of interest, I took them just before our KDR. Some history. The house was already around 30 years old when we bought it and there were signs of fretting. After what we thought was due diligence we had work done. We were told this involved leaching salt from bricks, blasting away loose material and filling, then applying a membrane to prevent fretting. It wasn't cheap and from the photos you will see it was not successful. The house was red brick and the white is the membrane. As you can see the bricks continued to crumble behind the membrane until there was nothing for it to hold on to and it peeled away. The whole house was impacted, not just sections. Downstairs was double brick and the cavity was full of red rubble. One morning I was woken by noises outside our upstairs bedroom window. There were 2 beautiful parrots sitting on the sill, happily digging a hole through to the cavity! We have used exposure grade brick and rolled mortar in our new build. Our neighbour did this 15 years ago with no signs of fretting to date. Our house is very exposed, only about 100 metres from surf. Haven't heard of anyone having problems even a few streets back from the beach but I suppose a lot of factors come into play. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ fretting 01 by snufl, on Flickr Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ fretting 03 by snufl, on Flickr Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 15Mar 12, 2015 11:33 am Great post snufl! Thanks for sharing. Cheers Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 16Mar 12, 2015 6:53 pm Thanks for all the responses! I can say that this is only affecting one wall. There are two sprinklers nearby that would "mist" onto the bricks so I will try and re-direct it. When I scrape off the white salty looking crystals, it does seem to have dissolved the brick by a few mm so I would say it is eating away at the brick itself. It does seem to have gone through the brick on both sides. Picture attached of inside. Sorry for quality but its hard to get a shot of it. So from what I can gather as a TEMPORARY fix, 1) I should first try to stop the sprinker from touching the brick. 2) Brush off the white crap inside and out. 3) Apply an acid to clean it. 4) Seal the brick I will get a professional in to check it out in a few weeks. Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 17Mar 12, 2015 8:01 pm Re direct sprinkler, allow the wall to dry out, then apply siloxane penetrating sealer at the rate about 1.5 sq mt / ltr. There are many on the market and are easily applied. The white cotton wool looking stuff is free lime and salt crystals,. ..usually it turns to nothing when you touch it/ sweep it. The forming of the powder usually means the wall has dried out since a recent soaking. If it is wet the crystal stay dormant(?) I'm not a scientist but I've seen it a few times where the wall will be wet up to about 300mm(450rammed Earth) and spreads around using the DPC to traverse the base of the wall. Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 18Mar 30, 2015 7:28 pm Watering may not be the only reason. Bricks and Stonework in buildings often crumbled badly due to leaking pipes or gutters, these must first be fixed. It may be possible to cut it away and replace it, using a sharp cold chisel and then apply siloxane penetrating sealer or other waterproofing agents. Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 19Mar 31, 2015 8:01 am Maybe Merry-B but I have yet to see any wall affected as georangers wall above and similar treated with any sealer, waterproofing agent, membrane, neutraliser or any other fix by so-called experts that did nothing but cover up or slow the process for a few years and I've been in the building industry for forty years. They usually cost a fortune too. The big issue is that once homeowners discover the problem then do something about it, the efflorescence, fretting, leeching and/or decay of the bricks etc is affecting the whole brick right the way through and not just the surface. All a lot of these treatments do is treat the top few mm. The membranes and paint probably make it worse as they then seal the problem inside the brickwork. Stewie Re: Brick wall dissolving! Help! 20Mar 31, 2015 9:37 pm A penetrating sealer binder will reduce if not stop moisture ingress, that in turn reduces salt ingressand the wet/dry cycle that has been happening for a very long time. Fretting bricks will have suffered damage beyond what you can see. The dusty surface will exfoliate easily until sound substrate is exposed, unless it is possible to bond the fretting surface. If the surface has a stronger modulus and flexural strength the surface will peal off the underlying weaker substrate. This is where the penetrating part prevents ingress and the binder part increases surface durability. You might get 7-10 years but at 6 years some maintenance will be required along the same lines as above. And this is my business ...... Glad wrap(aka membrane) /paint/aesthetic/decorative treatment will breakdown in 2 summers. I've spent decades dealing with the issues of rammed earth and rammed limestone and moisture ingress. Where you are coming from is where you are going to... can’t tell from the photo, a tie down rod will be 12mm, is it a steel beam? he should be able to work it out 1 4461 Thank you alexp79 and gommeqld for your advice, that's very helpful, thanks 3 7921 Building Standards; Getting It Right! Hi all, My neighbour has built his 15m long garage on our boundary. It was agreed as part of the planning permit that the wall must be in exposed recycled brick. For some… 0 10908 |