Crack stitching in thermalite blocks - can it/should it be done?

[richards1978]

Hi all,

Is crack stitching in the mortar bed above and below thermalite blocks possible/advisable?
I have a crack in my garage wall above where someone at some point core drilled a big hole for a waste pipe (about 120mm in size). It's goes up about 4 rows of thermalite and is stable and hasn't moved in any of the time I've lived here, but stresses me out every time I look at it and I'm worried it will track further up the wall at some point.

Is crack stitching for a few courses above this hole something that can be done to restore some of the strength to the wall, before filling the cracks and making it look pretty? Or is this a terrible idea?

Was worried that the thermalite might be too brittle and the WHO60 or similar grout too strong that it would just crack somewhere else.

 

[Wayners]

Just for interest.

You can decide how best to repair.
Id leave alone or maybe swap blocks for new if possible.
Right pain but often crack

 

[^woody^]

It may well be that the cause of the shrinkage was a once-only event and the amount of shrinkage possible has been reached, so there will be no more.