Cracked Garden wall help!

[Lee Jones]

Hello, I am new to this forum and have joined to ask/beg for some help!

First of all I am ok at DIY and like to try and fix a lot of issues by myself if possible. I dont have a lot of money to be paying builders either. I am currrently tackling a large vertical crack in my boundary wall. After moving into our new home last year I have finally got around to the task in question. The wall has been up for 90 years to my knowledge and is made up of a concrete foundation and brick inner. Since we have lived here the crack hasn't got any worse but needs addressing.

Today I dug a whole to see how deep the crack goes and it runs right through the wall and the foundation. The wall is about 4ft in height. I have attached some photos.

Do I need to knock the wall down and rebuild or can it be saved? Any help greatly appreciated.

Lee

 

[HERTS P&D]

Hi Lee, post pictures standing further back.

Andy

 

[Lee Jones]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the reply. I have added some more pictures. Just to add, the wall is two bricks thick with render on the outside. There is also no bowing in the wall, just the crack.

Lee

 

[HERTS P&D]

Is this a retaining wall? I would fill the crack and paint the wall.

Andy

 

[Lee Jones]

Yes it is a retaining wall. It's an old wall so didn't know if it's just going to keep getting worse over time or the vertical crack would suggest that's it was done when the foundations settled.
There is no historical evidence that any repair has been tried in the past.

Lee

 

[HERTS P&D]

Well if you fill it, you will soon know if it's moving as the gap will reappear.

Andy

 

[jks7492]

Any trees nearby?
What's the difference in ground level either side of the wall?

 

[HERTS P&D]

4ft. He said it in his first post.

Andy

 

[jks7492]

4ft. He said it in his first post.

Yeah the wall might be 4ft tall from its base but the level difference each side doesn’t look like 4ft does it?..

 

[Lee Jones]

Hi, the wall is 4ft from ground level. It is roughly another 2ft under the ground. The photo that is taken looking into the dug out section doesn't show it all the way to the bottom.
Lee

 

[Lee Jones]

Forgot to mention that there are no trees nearby.

 

[^woody^]

Looks like an old crack from foundation movement, not the retained earth.

Rather than mess about, buy a brick stitching kit and put a couple of heli bars across the crack, point it up and don't worry about it.

 

[Lee Jones]

Thank you for the advise. Will dig more of it out tomorrow I think and look at putting the heli bars in at the weekend. Any recommendations on what grout to use when filling the crack in?

 

[^woody^]

The resin grout comes in the kit.

Then it looks like a sharp sand mortar to finish.