Cladding brick wall

[sparky3659]

Morning all

I have a retaining brick wall running the perimeter of my garden approx 20m x 70cm. The brick work is shot, but repaired in the worst places. (I can't afford to replace the whole thing). My intention is to clad this wall with 80cm vertical cladding and I've just bought a load of tgv Brimstone Ash. I was thinking of putting a membrane over the wall to assist with weed control, and provide a waterproof liner to the soil that will fill the void between the fence and new cladding (see pic). I've never done this before, so I was just wondering on your thoughts of type of membrane and whether it is actually required over main part of the wall? Will a polythene type membrane be suitable for this? My thoughts are that Id cover the brick work with the membrane and then put treated battens over the top and then clad to Battens?

 

[^woody^]

I'd be a bit concerned with timber battens in that location. They may be permanently damp, so would rot in no time - treated or not. They would normally need an air gap top and bottom.

Polythene up the wall first would be ok and provide damp prevention from that side, but would water get to the battens from the top and the cladding and be held?

Also be aware that there will be splashing from the ground to the cladding within at least 150mm of the ground, and with vertical cladding, the end grain is susceptible to damp. Cutting the bottom edge to 45° across the width will help prevent water retention and run off, but think about the splashing issue.

Ensure the top end grain is protected too with a suitable capping with a good overhang.

 

[sparky3659]

Thanks Woody. A few things for me to think about. Specifically I hadn't considered the water pooling on the battens. What alternative would you use to timber battens?

I guess that, failing coming up with a batten alternative, what I'll do is polythene the wall for damp protection, then batten and clad. I'll then put another piece of polythene from top of cladding to fence, and then finish off with a nice piece of trim on top. That should keep the battens sheltered.

As for the lower edge, I'll cut that at 45 degrees as suggested and it won't touch the ground.

 

[chappers]

In all honesty I wouldn't bother, the main parts of the wall look OK just the capping bricks that look shot. Why not just replace those and tidy it up a bit.