Worry about the loft wall

[EFT77]

Hi there,
I live in a mid terraced house, which is about 100 years old. I found one side of the wall in my loft like this (it's sandy between the bricks). I'm no expert so trying to get some of your advice that should I be worried and what should I do with it?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and help.

 

[JohnD]

That's lime mortar. Is there something wrong with it?

The quality of brickwork is quite poor. They might have used cheap unskilled labour where the buyer would not know.

They have used cheap reject bricks where it doesn't show. This was quite common. You probably have them in internal walls where they are hidden by plaster. The blue-black ones will be very hard to drill into, so avoid it.

Some people think that in the old days, all houses were well built. That's survivor bias. Many of the worst ones have been demolished because they were so bad. I don't see any particular movement in yours. Soft lime mortar will absorb a bit of movement. You can patch up any bad bits, but use lime mortar not cement.

 

[EFT77]

Hi JohnD,

Thanks for your reply and information. Do you suggest to use lime mortar also for the repointing? Can I ask why cement isn't recommended?
The reason why it seems worrying is because the lime is so sandy and falls down just by touching it (video link here https://photos.app.goo.gl/mKZJX1LsGWhGZEFv6). But you don't think this is much a serious issue here with this low quality wall?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[^woody^]

You could point it up with a cement mortar, it does not matter with this location. You'd need to rake it out to at least 30mm and use a PVA or SBR bonding agent in the mix and damp the wall with it too.

However, as this is also a fire-break wall, it could do with more extensive work to maintain its integrity. Rake to half the wall width.

The issue is, how will the other side of the wall be dealt with?

 

[EFT77]

Hi, thanks for your reply and information as well. I guess the main question is how serious this is and how urgent I should deal with it? Just because it looks quite bad but it doesn't sound as bad based on the replies so far. Thanks!!