Has anyone got experience with building with bricks (directly) on top of limestone retaining? So bricks are not behind the limestone retaining wall they're literally on top of it.
The land I'm building on has a 1m drop from back to front so some sort of retaining was needed.
I had a quick chat with a building supervisor and they proposed building using this option over drop footings and its "common".
Understand it all has to be engineered but just wondering if there are any disadvantages to it.
Im ok with the color difference of the limestone and bricks but was abit worried the limestone retaining will weather out and wont last as long as bricks which may lead to some sort of structural failure over time.
I've been around Perth and am having trouble finding a modern house with the same "brick on limestone" setup, so I don't have a reference on how it looks like.
Appreciate your comments.
I've been around Perth and am having trouble finding a modern house with the same "brick on limestone" setup, so I don't have a reference on how it looks like.
Hi
lizzabeta Welcome to the forum.. Photos of the limestone wall helps
Who did your Architectural Drawings, they should have pointed out major potential issues
I suggest you look at the builders certified construction/engineering details, costs and then decide
Also you'll need the certified Engineering Drawings for the existing limestone wall and proof that it supports the new applied loads
Unfortunately it gets messy and worse should things go wrong with structural warranties further down the track
OT 1m and higher retaining/parapet walls requires reinforcement
Cheers
Chris
Hi StructuralBIMGuy, thanks for the info.
Yep, our designer actually was on site a few times when designing the house.
Sorry, just have to add, there is no existing limestone retaining there at the moment, just a raw sloped, sandy, class A, land.
I think the idea is for the builders is to install new "tiered" type limestone retaining or drop footings.
I just paid the preliminary plans agreement (PPA) money so I think this is where they do the "engineering" and in detail costing. I'll just have to wait and see how what the engineering results are and what it cost. If possible, I'll try to share it in this forum.
Hi
lizzabeta thanks for sharing and
I would recommend the dropped footings, ie concrete or cavity fill, for Class A
Cheers
Chris
Hi Chris,
You were right. Dropped footing would have been the better option.
Unfortunately I had actually been swayed to use the brick over limestone option during design stage and now I am facing the slip ups associated with this option.
We found out that the team laying the limestone blocks were different to the team laying the bricks, so there is currently a misalignment with the measurements. This made some areas of the brick work flushed with the limestone block base and some areas had a 15-20mm recess to it. Thankfully no overhangs.
Abit upset, but I hope if someone here decides to consider this option, this would be one of the risk. I'd definitely choose dropped footings in future.
Hi
lizzabeta,Just looking for your feedback regarding the brick over limestone blocks (instead of dropped footings) now that some time has elapsed.Would you recommend having this or would you advise to go with dropped footings? Any cracking issues?