Brickwork

[ctaylor]

we had aircon fitted to our conservatory, the patio doors were removed and they cut away the bricks with an angle grinder all the way up the side of the old door and about two foot above it to sink the aircon pipes into it leaving loose bricks everywhere.

will this weaken the rear wall?

 

[masona]

Any picture/photo would help if possible..........

 

[ctaylor]

 

[breezer]

you seem to have forgotten the picture, to find out how to inset pictures look in the "forum information" topic

 

[ctaylor]

________________________________
Moderator

corrected image link

 

[shaggy]

That's a terrible thing to do to a wall. The return from the corner is part of the stability of the house. The wall ties on the reveal should be every 300mm and they've been broken. The brickwork above the lintel doesn't look too good either.
That job is rubbish.

 

[masona]

will this weaken the rear wall?

Yes, please ring up a for a builder inspector to come round from your local building control as soon as possible.

The return wall must have at least 18" return and the lintel at least 150mm overhang.

 

[shaggy]

Isn't that 550mm return masona, which the original build was at 2.5 bricks?

 

[masona]

Isn't that 550mm return masona, which the original build was at 2.5 bricks?

Yes you're right, but it not 550mm now though unless the lintel goes straight across longer and sitting on 18" return with the lintel overhanging 150mm as well, then it should be safe but need to be look at.

Agreed with you shaggy, it's bad workmanship........

 

[shaggy]

I've just noticed that double socket which should have 30ma rcd protection as it's likely to be used for outdoor stuff.
New brickwork looks neat enough so perhaps it's a specialist firm doing the air-con and aren't aware of brickwork requirements? I hope ctaylor updates us on this one.

 

[masona]

I don't understand why the wall was chased out for the air-con pipes, it would've been better to boxed it in and for maintenance as well. What are they going to do with the pipe in the wall afterward ? A cover plate ??

 

[chappers]

What a mess I wouldnt be happy with that, the pipes would have been better just clipped to the wall.
If any of that chasing shows when theyve finished I would get them to sort it

 

[Thermo]

A sthe other guys have said what they have done is both plain incompetence and structurally stupid. I would let them do no further work and certainly make no payment to them,. Get building control around to have a look and that will back up your corner (which is more than the brickwork will do!)

Thermo

 

[maxwell10]

It just shows what can happen when you trust somebody to do a job right,thank God for forums like this ,where us novices can get reliable info from the lads who answer our questions,and can point us in the right direction.Regards

 

[ctaylor]

Thanks guys for the info, I asked the builder to come back after he done this and he assured me it was ok because the lintel and the patio door was not a structual part anyway as it was removed later. As you can see from the dwarf wall his workmanship was good and I think he thought as the rear wall was going to be plastered over then it didn't matter what it looked like. although I wish i hadnot seen this.

Looking at the steel lintel after, it did appear to go a fair way into the brickwork to the right although he did manage to cut it slighly with the grinder whilst chasing it out. I have asked the local building control to take a look at the pics but unfortunatly they have already plastered over the interior walls and I must admit it looks good.

It just looked abit scarry to me, I check for cracks below the rear upstairs window from time to time but it would be nice to be assured it was ok for peace of mind.

As for the pipes I think they just like them out of site for an overal clean finish, also as for the electrics they were from the old conservatory a diy fit by a previous owner and were removed and replaced.

Many Thanks Guys for the advice