Garden wall render

[bigfoot2000]

I've attached an image of my garden wall. This was put in place before I moved in. Over the years I've patched up the wall with cement and repainted it every year (render has cracked every year and fallen off, plus the paint goes green). The bricks are blown and the whole lot needs rebuilding (water proof membrane needed and decent bricks).

Untitled

• bigfoot2000
• 28 Feb 2014
• 1

Most brick layers I've spoken to have advised me against going for render again as it's unlikely to stay on with the frost.

Wondered if you could give me some advice as to whether I can render the wall and it stay satisfactory for a good number of years? The look would be completely lost without white render. Not sure bricks with white paint would work either? Willing to pay for engineering bricks if the render would stick to them better.

Wondering if the wall was same height rather than sloped - would be better as less render required.

Any other options for keeping the look? When painted it looks really good, but maintenance of it is proving a pain in the A**.

 

[i_am_fubar]

Frost isn't the killer of render, freeze/thaw action is. Pockets of water between the render and bricks freeze and blow it off.

Simple answer is to make sure no water can get between the render and the bricks.

To achieve this, you will need...
- A DPC to stop water rising up the wall.
- some sort of water proofing on the back of the wall.
- cap stones or a sloped top to ensure rain doesn't soak into the wall
- waterproof blocks, render and mortar would also help.

Oh, and make sure the wall is completely dry before painting. Considering that any waterproofing measures will not only keep moisture out, but in as well.

At least you're not supporting a high load, I would barely consider that a retaining wall.

Another option would be to pour it as solid concrete and paint it.

Fubar.