Conservatory wall leaking. Fix/Replace

[adam1984]

Hi all,
I hope you can help me with something. We have a conservatory that was built approx 4 years ago by the previous owners of our house but the brickwork is very shoody. The frame work was done by Everest and it is of very good quality and we are happy with that. The previous owners used there own builder to do the base and brickwork.
Now when it rains, the wall looks like it is leaking. On furthur investigation I have noticed that the coping bricks on top of the wall are not wide enough and only just about cover the bricks with no overlap.
We had Everest round to have a look and they have said that because the coping bricks are not wide enough the water is coming in between the wall and where the frame is screwed to it.
Also it was noted that the pointing on the outside of the wall is very poor.
Now my dilemma is this:

Do I get the wall knocked down and rebuilt? - The wife wants the inside wall to be brick effect – not plastered as it is (something of a feature apparently)
Will this be possible do with the frame in place or will it have to come down?
Or do I have the walls repaired and rendered on the outside and plastered again on the inside - The only worry here is that the wall will never have time to dry out completely and the problem may occur.

In you opinions will the costs vary dramtically between the 2?

Obviously the coping bricks will be removed and the correct ones will be put in place.

Sorry for such a long post and I hope you can help me.

Adam

 

[Bankrupt]

I'm very surprised that Everest accepted the shoddy base. They are usually very insistant that the base is correct before they'll commence installation of the conservatory.

It sounds like a rebuild job to me - and that this will need to be done with the relevant part of the conservatory temporarily removed.

 

[theoldun]

Can not understand what you are on about these coping bricks.
Your frame should be sitting on the outer face brickwork with the sill and drip projecting 25/38mm over brickwork to shed water clear of face work.
Sounds to me that conservatory has been made up small, and consequently no projection or drip on window sill.
As your description, reckon, Everest are giving you a load of old b*****ks, and until you sort that out, no point in going any where. old un.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Photo?

 

[2929twin]

You wouldn`t get coping brick on a dwarf wall. Maybe this is a lean-to job against a full height feature wall? Coping stone with drips could be better if so. Flashing at joint cant be much cop either.

 

[adam1984]

Ill take some photo's tomorrow in the light and then hopefully you will get an idea of what im on about.
Thanks for the replies so far.

 

[adam1984]

I have tried uploading images but i cannot do it for some reason - perhaps i ambeing thick!!

I have tried creating an album but after i upload 5 images in there it just says my album is empty - maybe someone could help me out with instructions?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=129539

Sometimes (when its busy I think) it can be tricky saving photos into your chosen album, never try doing more than one at a time and see if you can reduce their file size if they are big files.

 

[adam1984]

View media item 22749 View media item 22750 View media item 22751 View media item 22752 View media item 22753 View media item 22754

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Ah ha, a picture speaks a thousand words. I don't think anyone realised it was a parapet above the conservatory!

The coping is not wide enough however that is only a minor issue.

Is that a lead flashing (the dark grey bit)? Doubt it! The flashing should be above the glazing, not behind/under it as it appears to be.

Is that a cavity wall or solid?

Is there a damp proof under the coping stone?

Awful awful detailing!

The best fix would be remove the coping, add an extra couple of rows of brickwork and a nice lead flashing over the whole lot and dressed down on top of the glazing bar. even then if the wall is solid you may still have issues later on. Alternatively, if you wanted to keep the coping stones (you need wider ones) a stepped dpc could be inserted to throw the water away when the additional brickwork is added.

This is the belt and braces way to do it: http://www.cavitytrays.co.uk/pdf/32-Type-P-Cavitytrays.pdf

Whilst Mr Everest raises a valid issue he is ignoring the awful flashing carried out by Everest. They should have insisted the wall was higher and fitted a lead flashing at least.

The flashing at the back should be at least another brick or so higher too, it looks like that flashing sits behind the frame as well? Not worth doing unless problems occur there, just mentioning it! A word of warning to others thinking about using Everest I'd say!

 

[theoldun]

Freddy ia about right in what he says, and I feel sure he will not mind me tidying it up a bit.
That’s a cavity wall you have got there with what appears to be Uniflex lead free flashing dressed over the polycarbonate up the brickwork and under the coping, with a pvc cover mould fillet high tacked to the Uniflex.
We do not like Uniflex, but conservatory boys, they love it and in the instance that it has been used on for your roof it is better than lead, as it is sealed down with a continuous bead of high tack to roof thereby preventing capillary action if lead had been used on such a shallow pitch.
The easiest and cheapest way to cure your problem. Take cover fillet of, clean up and set aside, Take of copings and throw in skip. Measure girth for new Uniflex flashing to go over top of existing. Girth will be 35mm wider on the roof than at present, up brickwork and 30mm across top of brick plus 20mm to fold back to form welt. Lay one more course of brickwork to both skins, bed 100mm dpc to both skins, buy new once weathered repeat once weathered, twice throated coping stones at least 60mm wider than the wall, bed and lay on dpc with slopes falling to outside. That night rack out joint to flashing and next day fill with Ubiflex gap fill. High tack existing cover mould over Uniflex. Doing it this way will save disturbing back flashing on house. You may see 25mm of new flashing on roof from below, but feel sure that you can live with that.
It is no big job to rattle side wall over and rebuild, but as you do not see the brickwork from your side, is it really worth the money? If you want a budget, let me know.
old un.

 

[2929twin]

FMT. I was heading in the right direction before photos. I thought it may have been leaning against full height feature wall but with brick on edge coping. Didnt reckon on the side being the prob. same out come tho. Everyone nailed the solution, pity the builder didnt.

 

[adam1984]

Hi All,

An update (Sorry it's nearly 2 years late)

So we had Everest round to see if their warranty covered it but it didnt so we went down the route of having it sorted by ourselves.

I first thought I would give it a go myself and but some "repair" items but looking at long term i thought it would be wasted money in the long run.

We had a builder come and gives us a quote to fix it and had the following done:

Original coping stone replaced with wider ones
New flashing put in under the stones and over the side piece or framework
A new piece of flashing put in at the top of the wall (from house over coping stone)

The price we paid was £350 for the above including labour and materials - slightly overpriced in my opinion but a top guy and highly recommended and great workmanship.

I chipped the internal plaster off the wall and had my friends Father come in and do the following:

Bond
Skim
paper line wall
wallpaper

He charged me £130 for that - I supplied materials. (great price I think)
I laid a new laminate flooring and now habve a TV With Sky out there.

I will post up some pics shortly.

Anyway tahts the update. Bit late I know but very annoying when i look at a post and there is never an outcome.

Adam