Garden wall falling apart!

[DaveMe]

Howdy!

So my mums house has a brick wall around her back garden. The wall has been there some 30 odd years and is now starting to show signs of crumbling and cracking as you can see from the photos.

On the inside of the garden wall a patio has been laid on what looks like another patio (as you do!!), raising the levels up which is clearly causing the damp at the base. In addition to this raised beds have also been created that are clearly having a negative impact on the wall and adding to the damage.

My plan is to take up the patio and raised beds as soon as I get time so that it can air out and doesn’t get any worse but I just wondered if the damage that’s already done could be repaired?

Dave

 

[noseall]

The wall has been there some 30 odd years and is now starting to show signs of crumbling and cracking as you can see from the photos.

London Tudor reds are not the best behaved garden wall bricks. I take my hat off that have lasted this long though. Hit it with a bi-annual coating of Thompsons water seal.

 

[DaveMe]

London Tudor reds are not the best behaved garden wall bricks. I take my hat off that have lasted this long though. Hit it with a bi-annual coating of Thompsons water seal.

Thanks for the quick response.

Any prep I need to do before adding the water seal or just whack it on?

 

[noseall]

just whack it on?

 

[tony1851]

London Tudor reds are not the best behaved garden wall bricks. I take my hat off that have lasted this long though. Hit it with a bi-annual coating of Thompsons water seal.

Would that not cause problems with damp rising from the ground (assumng it has no dpc, which it shouldn't) or does the coating let it breathe?

 

[noseall]

Would that not cause problems with damp rising from the ground (assumng it has no dpc, which it shouldn't) or does the coating let it breathe?

Letting walls breathe is a phrase borne from the days of weak bricks and srong mortar. Mostly evolved into myth.
London bricks benefit from total suffocation from the weather, they are that poor.

 

[DaveMe]

Every days a school day

 

[Dereekoo]

Letting walls breathe is a phrase borne from the days of weak bricks and srong mortar. Mostly evolved into myth.
London bricks benefit from total suffocation from the weather, they are that poor.

Perhaps so this but what happens to the moisture that wicks up from the ground due to no DPC, is this not detrimental to the bricks or does it wick back down in periods of drought

 

[noseall]

Perhaps so this but what happens to the moisture that wicks up from the ground due to no DPC, is this not detrimental to the bricks or does it wick back down in periods of drought

It evaporates. Some moisture content is ok. Rain soaked bricks are not so good.

 

[Dereekoo]

It evaporates. Some moisture content is ok. Rain soaked bricks are not so good.

Ahh so Thomsons water seal doesn't actually seal the water out (or in) or at least allows external evaporation

 

[noseall]

Ahh so Thomsons water seal doesn't actually seal the water out (or in) or at least allows external evaporation

It seals it out yes

 

[Dereekoo]

It seals it out yes

Ahh, seals it out from going in but doesn't seal it in from going out. a bit like a reflux valve, brilliant

 

[DaveMe]

Should I replace the damaged bricks at the base before adding the Thompsons water seal?

 

[noseall]

Should I replace the damaged bricks at the base before adding the Thompsons water seal?

Repair the wall first yes, including the cracked pointing

 

[DaveMe]

I visited today and the inside of the wall has very little signs of damage.

Im going to start the repairs on the exterior of the wall as soon as possible, which I THINK might be possibly caused by a lot of moss build up on the path way alongside the wall and then just over time this creeping up the wall, combined with the high patio and beds on the garden side.

As you can see on the inside the raised beds (god only knows who put those in!) sit directly against the wall.
There is no space between the wall and the back of the raised beds... In fact the back of the raised beds IS the garden wall!
No membrane added in the raised beds either so that soil is sat against the garden wall holding water.

To save the hassle of breaking down all the raised beds and disposing of it all (I do plan to do that at some point eventually), is there a way to create some kind of back to the raised beds that does not sit against the garden wall or would just adding a decent membrane along the back be enough?