External Window Sill Problem

[McAhuna]

I wonder if anyone can advise please?
This is a bay window on a 1920s house. Some of the external window sill bricks are lifting (see picture) or coming loose.
These bricks seem to bear a significant weight from above. There have been damp problems inside the room, and moisture is possibly getting through, so it needs sorting.
Can anyone recommend the best way to straighten and secure the bricks?
Also, I was thinking of covering/protecting the sill with a upvc capping board cover, like the one pictured, sealed in and set at a slight slope. Would this be a good idea?

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Bricks don't rise up on their own. They're overhanging the cavity, so are possibly tipping in. I'm wondering if the load-bearing pillars on the corners are pressing them down.

Also that section a third of the way across is under the frame.

It looks like the window has become load-bearing, it's holding up the upstairs floor and has nothing but fresh air under the bricks it's sitting on.

Get some of those tiles off from above and see what's holding what up.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

The other bay to the left has the (original?) wooden frame directly above the bricks below.

I'd say you've got a bigger project than just the window sill.

 

[McAhuna]

Thanks for the advice.

When you say we've got a bigger project than just the window sill, do you mean we need to make sure the window (and house) is properly supported? I am really not confident removing tiles above.

Some builders have suggested this "Remove window cover beads, brickwork sill and old mortar and dispose. Supply and fit new tiles on a bed of sand and cement"
Do you think that will solve the problem?

For info - All of our current sill bricks are under the window frame, not just a section third across. To our left in the earlier pic is not a bay, but our porch.
The neighbouring-semi in the attached pic is a similar design with the window set inside the bay, although their window is a bit bigger. And as you can see, our neighbours don't appear to have any 'rising brick' issues unlike us

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Both frames are probably sitting on the inner wall, so should be fine. So the tiles are sitting on the outer wall and their inner edge is held up by good luck and silicone.

They were probably held by the adhesion of the original mortar, which has now lost its grip.

So hopefully all OK. But I'd be concerned about the fact that it's failed under the vertical bar of the frame. This may be coincidence, or it may indicate a problem.

If you could get up to it on a ladder, you could look from the end to see if it sags in the middle. Or rest a straight edge under it. You would expect some sag over the years anyway, it depends how bad it is.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Actually it looks alright...

 

[McAhuna]

You are right that a brick failed under the vertical bar. But two in a row also failed in the middle of the window (see pic below), so I think (and hope) that it is just a random coincidence.
Once the bricks have gone like that, is there any simple way of setting them straight again?
Or would we be best off accepting this builder's quote (for £500) "Remove window cover beads, brickwork sill and old mortar and dispose. Supply and fit new tiles on a bed of sand and cement"
If the window is actually sitting comfortably on the inner wall, perhaps I could get away with just putting upvc capping board cover over the top of the sill bricks to keep them dry? And then it might not matter if they were unaligned, as they would be dry and out of view?
Thanks again for your help

 

[catlad]

I don't like the look of it, there are tiles kicking up near your owl.

 

[noseall]

I wonder if anyone can advise please?
This is a bay window on a 1920s house. Some of the external window sill bricks are lifting (see picture) or coming loose.
These bricks seem to bear a significant weight from above. There have been damp problems inside the room, and moisture is possibly getting through, so it needs sorting.
Can anyone recommend the best way to straighten and secure the bricks?
Also, I was thinking of covering/protecting the sill with a upvc capping board cover, like the one pictured, sealed in and set at a slight slope. Would this be a good idea?

If the bottom window profiles are bulging up slightly, between the mullions, it means the mullions are being pressed down. Presumably, you can walk into the bay in the bedroom above, so the whole window is a structural element and will have been constructed as such, when the house was built. I doubt the new UPVC replacement has the same capacity.

We built something similar a few years back and there was a lot of hidden steel in there doing a fair bit of work. Behind the clad there are steel beams and are supported off steel corner posts.

1587634060219212356492

• noseall
• 23 Apr 2020

 

[McAhuna]

Thanks Noseall,
So are you saying that the whole window needs replacing? (They have been there about 10 years)

Or would this builder's quote (for £500) solve the problem do you think? "Remove window cover beads, brickwork sill and old mortar and dispose. Supply and fit new tiles on a bed of sand and cement"

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

I think you need to either look for yourself or find someone trustworthy to investigate.

There's a chance that the window has become load-bearing. The cosmetic issue with the sill may be a symptom of a bigger problem rather than the primary problem itself.

The quote you've got is a reasonable for the work involved, and would tidy it up. But none of us from the other end of the internet can say whether that's all that's needed.

Hopefully there's a steel post inside each corner, a joist over them and they're resting on something solid.

 

[noseall]

Thanks Noseall,
So are you saying that the whole window needs replacing? (They have been there about 10 years)

Or would this builder's quote (for £500) solve the problem do you think? "Remove window cover beads, brickwork sill and old mortar and dispose. Supply and fit new tiles on a bed of sand and cement"

I can't say from photos, only that the UPVC window seems to be doing a lot of work it shouldn't be doing.