damaged bricks

[Blunda]

Hello

I was looking at re-pointing some brickwork as we are having issues with damp and i know there are gaps in the morter etc. After looking at it alot of the bricks on one side of the buildin are in bad condition and quite crumbly. There are quite a few and am quite aprehensive about taking so many bricks out to replace. Only one side seems to be affected so badly, The other sides do need bricks replacing but only one or two. do crumbling bricks mean they are damp? Please see below a link to photos of the wall. Any help much appreciated!

http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee231/BlundaKat/Brickwork/

 

[crossercuss]

some of mine have gone like that to... im planning on repointing the whole house next year so interested in any advice too.... i think its frost that makes the brick fronts come away like that

 

[Blunda]

Anyone?

can this be a cause for damp? is it worth replacing the bricks when i re-point? any ides why its just this section of the wall effected so badly?

 

[The-brickie]

The bricks are 'spalling' caused by water penetration and then freezing and blowing the face of the brick off.

Some bricks are softer that others and absorb more water, hence losing the face. We tend to cut out the worse ones completely and turn it round so no nasty 'new' bricks in an old wall.

Also if its lime mortar then it needs to be repointed in a lime mix, cement mixes make it worse, avoid.

 

[stuart45]

any ides why its just this section of the wall effected so badly?

That wall is probably the most exposed. Once the face is off they will spall much quicker. On a solid wall like yours probably is there could be a damp problem inside.

 

[Blunda]

Cool, it shouldnt be too dificult to turn the worse of the bricks around. How do I tell if it is a lime morter?

 

[stuart45]

If the house is quite old the original was probably lime mortar, but it looks like it has been re-pointed at some point with a cement mortar. You can normally tell lime mortar by it's colour and texture.

 

[Blunda]

Well the ceiling in that building was lathe and plaster so one would guess it was lime morter. If you say it looks like it has already been re-pointed with cement morter, should I still use lime morter?

Also, would I be able to do this now? or is it too cold? should I waite until spring?

 

[stuart45]

If the original was lime I would use a lime mortar to re-point. If possible I would leave it for the better weather, as lime mortar and freezing conditions are not well matched.