Blown Bricks - air brick required?

[chuckalicious]

Hi all, just bought a 1980's brick house which has a brick and slab stair case going up to the main entrance.

Many of the bricks on the stair case are blown. The pointing on the slabs was either gone or, to my discovery today, been replaced with expanding foam and then some sand on top. Below the slabs is a void which I assume goes to ground level and is just soil at the bottom. I can't lift the slabs due to metal railings going into them.

I assume the blown bricks are due to moisture and frost and am assuming the moisture is coming from within the void due to it being open at the top for rain to get in where the pointing should be. Also looks like the remaining pointing was allowing water to run from the slabs onto the brickwork.

So, I plan to repoint the slabs this weekend but what I would like to know is, is there any point in taking a couple of bricks out and replacing them with air bricks? Would this help get rid of any moisture looking to get out or should just pointing be enough?

Brickwork on the rest of the house is absolutely fine.

Cheers.

 

[Crystalclear]

For now? You could just use a pointing gun, and tidy up the pointing, and a week later wash off the efflorescence with brick acid. A generous coating of brick waterproofer will help protect the brick face too.

If water has settled at the bottom part, then it's most likely just sitting inside the inner bricks, like a sponge?

Point, clean and waterproof. Simples.

 

[chuckalicious]

Never heard of waterproofing bricks. I'm in B&Q right now so will take a look.

 

[^woody^]

there any point in taking a couple of bricks out and replacing them with air bricks

No point at all. The bricks are crap and have been attacked by frost from the front and dampness from the front and rear.

You are not going to stop them deteriorating. No coating, or pointing is going to help one bit. And acid does not clear efflorescence.

 

[Burnerman]

I think anything that prevents those bricks from being soaked can only help......you say that the bricks on your house are standing up to the weather reasonably well?
Pic 1 & 2.....nothing you can really do here, but a treatment of Johnstone's Water seal cant do any harm. It did help on my property to a degree.
As for the missing pointing - make that good....it may prevent water coursing down the brick face and soaking in (pic 3).
Water getting into the void beneath your steps won't do any major harm, but you may as well stop it.....at some point those flags may come loose.
I would forget about the efflorescence, personally.
John

 

[chuckalicious]

Thanks everyone. Bought some stuff while I was out so may as well use it. Will be pointing anyway.

Cheers.

 

[noseall]

I like the fact that Woodshed gets straight to the point. Brutal but succinct.
Brick sealer will deal with the brick faces. These bricks are practically sitting in moisture and are not FL rated so will be permanently damp and always vulnerable.

 

[chuckalicious]

Just to update, I gave the bricks a good waterproofing so will see how they fare over the winter.

Thanks for tips.

 

[Joe Malone]

I think anything that prevents those bricks from being soaked can only help......you say that the bricks on your house are standing up to the weather reasonably well?
Pic 1 & 2.....nothing you can really do here, but a treatment of Johnstone's Water seal cant do any harm. It did help on my property to a degree.
As for the missing pointing - make that good....it may prevent water coursing down the brick face and soaking in (pic 3).
Water getting into the void beneath your steps won't do any major harm, but you may as well stop it.....at some point those flags may come loose.
I would forget about the efflorescence, personally.
John

No woody is right, and in fact applying a waterproof coating will make the problem worse since it will inhibit moisture evaporation from the bricks and cause further deterioration due to frost action.

 

[Joe Malone]

Just to update, I gave the bricks a good waterproofing so will see how they fare over the winter.

Thanks for tips.

Oops!

 

[tony1851]

Oops![/QUOTE]

So why ask for advice, and then disregard it?

 

[chuckalicious]

One of the bits of advice given was to try waterproofing, which I did. Didn't see the advice not to do so until after I'd done it

 

[Burnerman]

It seems to have worked for me....the theory being that if water can't get in, it can't freeze. So far, water is beading off but I would expect to retreat at sometime.
(PS this stuff has a similar effect on car windscreens )
John

 

[Joe Malone]

It seems to have worked for me....the theory being that if water can't get in, it can't freeze. So far, water is beading off but I would expect to retreat at sometime.
(PS this stuff has a similar effect on car windscreens )
John

That sounds like a reasonable theory but you can't have possibly ensured the bricks were dry before you applied it and this is the problem, the moisture now becomes trapped in the brick and expedites freeze/thaw action.
In any event you are failing to recognise that most of these products have very poor penetration into the brick and also failing to recognise that most of the moisture is transferred to the brick via the mortar joint.

 

[chuckalicious]

ACH well, too late for me now. If it hasn't penetrated far the treated layer will probably fall off this winter...

Now that I've trapped the moisture, might a couple of air bricks be beneficial?