Brickwork quality

[Rocky1000]

Thanks, I take your point, they have said that they will be rendering to the bottom but obviously not directly over the DPC, this is the bit I'm slightly unsure about, its a difficult situation as it took along time to find a builder I was happy with based on seeing previous work and one that fell into a reasonable budget (others were quoting around £60k+ for the extension and bit of internal renovations) and at this stage it would be difficult to suddenly pull the plug and start again if its not quite that desperate yet but some of the comments are a bit worrying but they have assured me that have lot of experience and things will be fine.

I understand this is the type of thing they are planning, using an external bellcast bead however the bricks will also be rendered but they will be recessed by 15mm from the rest of the wall, DPC and bead will divide, not sure how acceptable that sounds though.

 

[tomfe]

@Rocky1000 Yes that's what they will be doing but apart from having only 3 bricks above ground level you'll have 8.
Get them to knock the outer skin down and start again, put up 2/3 bricks above external ground level then add a bit of dpm as a cavity tray. Weep holes in the course above the dpc. If you look at the vertical joints in brick work they should all line up with the matching bond below not be all over the place line in your wall.

I know it's not what you want to hear but it's much easier to fix this now. I'd also keep a keen eye on your builders if this is the quality of work they think is acceptable.

 

[Rocky1000]

Thanks tomfe, I take your point, however the brick work will also be rendered with bead dividing DPC, not sure how much of different that makes but I will discuss with them!

 

[tomfe]

You can't render over the dpc, you'd have to put a bead above and below the dpc.

 

[Rocky1000]

Hi, yes that is what they are planning I believe to match the rest of the building, does this sounds acceptable???

 

[stuart45]

yes that is meant to be claymaster but I assume its some other variety as its white, I'm not that clued up on it to be honest.

It's coloured so it can be identified as claymaster rather than the ordinary EPS which is much cheaper and not made for that job.

 

[Rocky1000]

Hi, thanks Stuart, yes I was wondering that as I did see that claymaster is usually Pink but I just assumed it was something called Clayshield, is this not another a similar product???..unfortunately I wasn't on site when they poured the concrete so couldn't question anything at the time, the inspector did sign it off but seeing as claymaster is not a reg requirement he probably didn't have much choice but even so I guess there isn't much I can do at this stage really.

 

[stuart45]

The reason it's used is that if you have shrinkable clay the area inside the footings is now cut off from the trees. It can now expand as the trees won't take the moisture and cause heave. It would do the same to a concrete floor, so block+ beam is better.
Claymaster is designed to compress and protect the footings, although clayboards are said to be even better, but even more expensive.
Being a bricklayer myself I do worry a bit when I see poor quality work like that, even though it's being rendered. Your average bricklayer would lay them better than that even in the footings.

 

[^woody^]

Your average UK bricklayer would lay them better than that even in the footings.

I've corrected that for you.

 

[Rocky1000]

Thanks, yes I do agree the brick work should be better quality evening if its only footings. I have already had harsh discussions about this with the builder so hopefully moving forward they will be more diligent however I'm not sure if its worth totally re-doing at this stage, if the EPS is just standard stuff which it does look like it as it is white then there isn't much that I can do now really, just hope it doesn't cause any issues!

 

[JohnD]

I'm no bricklayer, but IMO a good brickie just automatically works to a good standard without needing to think about it. He would probably find it harder to do shoddy work.