Salts in mortar bed

babyseat · 26 Feb 2020

Hi All,

Does anyone know what the possible cause for this is...doesn't look like efflorescence to me as it's in the mortar although I'm happy to be corrected on that! It's below a window on a groundfloor flat.

Many thanks

JohnD · 26 Feb 2020

is there a waterpipe on the other side of that wall?

^woody^ · 26 Feb 2020

Efflorescence can develop in mortar. It's either that or lime bloom, and the cause in either case is excess water within the wall drying and drawing salts out.

Lime bloom can be dealt with using a hydrochloric acid. Efflorescence needs dry brushing and time, lots of time.

In either case the source of the excess water needs to be removed.

bobasd · 27 Feb 2020

slightly higher up the wall there's signs of remedial pointing.
why not rake out to 25mm, clean out & re-point the wall including the plinth? it would be worth doing esp in a solid wall like yours.

so far, it only seems to have affected the beds & perps - those good old yellow bricks are holding out well.
the green on the plinth means its taking some splash.

babyseat · 27 Feb 2020

Thanks for all the replies. Just for context this is a job I've been asked to have a look at and not my property. I want to go inside and have a look for a possible water leak but the flat is tenanted and they are hard to get hold of. Does it seem likely that the reason for the salts being there is due to the bricks getting wet from some source other than rain? If so, one the source has been found and rectified is it a simple repointing job?

JohnD · 27 Feb 2020

It looks very localised, not a general effect as you might expect if rain was beating against the wall.

If there is a defect out of shot, like a gap round windows, that would be relevant.

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Salts in mortar bed

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