Flaking brick walls

[d000hg]

I live on a new-build development, 8 years old now. It's built using brick. and they also used the same (I think) bricks on walls surrounding gardens, yards, etc - low walls with small towers and railings in between.

Throughout the estate, there are lots of problems with the bricks flaking and falling apart on these small walls. Flat pieces about 5mm thick are regularly coming loose and in some cases, whole bricks or even courses of bricks are loose or falling off (mainly on the small towers which are basically 2bricks x 2. Also lots of white markings on the side of the walls (damp?)

At times you can walk down the street and see bits of brick all over the place.

I think the flaking is frost damage but really, should such newly build walls be falling apart? Is this a worry for the main house walls - does it indicate the bricks are bad or that the outside walls are uncapped in some way?

Also, how can one fix this? And since it's a street managed by a housing company is there a case to chase them about it... literally every house has this problem?

Thankyou... I can get photos if needed.

 

[loply]

I see this quite often around here, it usually seems to happen to those really smooth plain red bricks?

Would also like to know what causes it. I know it's frost but why does it affect some buildings/walls and not others.

The white stuff is just salt and is common on new brickwork, just needs washed off.

 

[kbdiy]

Spalling bricks will be the result of the freeze-thaw cycle causing the face of the bricks to flake off. Not good if only 8 years old. Much will depend on the quality of the bricks used and their suitability to withstand moisture penetration.

Probably not much can be done about the freestanding walls other than cutting out damaged bricks and replacing, but the viability of that will depend on the scale of the damage. If house walls are suffering the same then you may have a claim against the NHBC or whatever scheme the houses are covered under.

 

[d000hg]

I can't see anything wrong with the houses themselves. I wondered if the issue is the top course of bricks should've been protected - in the house obviously the roof does this job.

 

[kbdiy]

If only the garden walls then the management company will need to repair or replace as required - but of course they will charge for the privilege so expect your maintenance fees to rise as a result.

The top course of brickwalls can be protected by adding coping stones to assist water run-off but too late in your case it seems.

 

[d000hg]

So the issue is fundamentally down to water sitting on top of the bricks, without some sort of protection - special bricks, coping stones, etc - house bricks simply aren't designed to sit bare like that?

 

[kbdiy]

Most commonly, a course of soldier bricks (laid upright rather than lengthways) act as the protection. Coping stones are probably a better alternative but at the time of building, it will have been mainly dependent on cost, so the cheapest will win out. Bricks do come in different grades so some will withstand water better than others.

Either way I can't see there is much that you can do other than have the walls repaired or rebuilt, at a cost to all the residents.

 

[d000hg]

It sounds like potentially we could have the top course only removed and rebuilt/replaced with something better?
And you don't think this is the kind of thing which might come under an insurance claim residents or the property management company could make - there should surely be some initial guarantee on the workmanship, and since it's systemic rather than a few houses?

Having it all done at once would seem so much nicer, and probably cheaper per-house - we wouldn't end up with some looking nice and others letting the street down. But how on earth one might manage the residents I don't know, there are ~40 houses as well as some flats, and many are rental properties. I've seen one landlord attempt to address it on his properties by just removing the top course from the "towers" but that's hardly a solution and looks pretty bad.

I don't know if the management company is responsible for upkeep or the owners of the houses, if they did it and took it from the sinking fund we'd all pay for it but there would be no quibbling over people not wanting it done... but I don't know they have the authority to decide to do work on our houses!

 

[kbdiy]

The question is ... are these walls on common/shared areas of the estate or are they on individual properties? If common areas then repair is the responsibility of the management company but you will all foot the bill. If on individual properties then down to those owners to repair or replace as they see fit. Not an expense that many owners will want either way and if tenanted - then don't expect the landlords to cough up, they just want income, not expense and don't have to live there, so not bothered about appearance.

 

[tony1851]

So the issue is fundamentally down to water sitting on top of the bricks, without some sort of protection

No - it's down to the bricks being only moderately frost-resistant, and such bricks should not be used in positions of severe exposure, such as free-standing walls.

Those in the house walls will be OK; they are protected from being permanently damp by the dpc at the base, by the overhang of the roof, and because the heat from the house tends to keep them drier.

 

[d000hg]

I guess that's sort of what I meant - it's not the water itself which is the problem but the fact the top layer doesn't keep the water out, thereby allowing the weakness to frost to be an issue... if the top layer of bricks is protected from water or replaced with a different brick, this should protect the whole wall? From the top at least, I guess rising damp is going to be a problem at some point too?

 

[tony1851]

I guess that's sort of what I meant - it's not the water itself which is the problem but the fact the top layer doesn't keep the water out, thereby allowing the weakness to frost to be an issue... if the top layer of bricks is protected from water or replaced with a different brick, this should protect the whole wall? From the top at least, I guess rising damp is going to be a problem at some point too?

Yes, it's not just the top, but the bottom as well, where rising damp is not prevented by a dpc; and also the rain wets both sides.
Hence free-standing walls are almost permanently damp, and are classed as severe exposure. Therefore the bricks have to be of a higher quality than for house walls.

 

[d000hg]

I don't know what I could reasonably do about the bottom and sides, but the problems observed throughout the street are universally affecting the bricks on the very top. So my guess is protecting the top will at least slow down the problems.

Can one buy any sort of paint-on sealant? I'm sure it would have to be re-applied and would only delay the damage, but that would be better than nothing, or be a stop-gap until we can figure out what to do.

 

[tony1851]

Can one buy any sort of paint-on sealant?

Sealant will make matters worse because it will trap moisture within the wall, reducing its ability to dry off.

 

[d000hg]

Even if applied when the wall is at its driest? And only to the top, not all over? We aren't allowed to change the appearance of the properties so capping the walls might be a problem.