help with rebuilding supporting pillar

[supergas]

Hi guys
I have had the house 3 years and finally got round to this job, I have been avoiding it and now it's time to sort it.
the house is approx 27 years old and the 2 concrete lintels that support the inner and outer skin of the front of the house is in my opinion very inadequately supported.
I have access to as many acro's and strongboys etc as required and I have some building skills, enough to do what's required once I know exactly what material to use etc.
what is the recommended ratio to use, I have been advised a 3:1 and also a 4:1 mix.
my question is what is the best brick to rebuild this pillar in ?
I have supported the lintels and removed the thermolite blocks that weren't tied into anything but have left in the regular breeze blocks that are tied onto the 150mm thermolite block wall to the right of the column and also removed the bricks on the left of the column which were tied in to the single skin and there are plenty of points that I can interlock the bricks from the column in to.

i intend on sorting the most urgent column out( left) then checking the one on the right that i think may just require a pad stone on top of the breezeblocks but if it needs more I will do whatever it takes to make it right.

thankyou in advance guys

Regards

Rich.

 

[Bonni]

Concrete commons and/or 4" solids. Concrete padstone under the lintel. Tie in to house wall with Bluebirds or Wall Starters.

 

[^woody^]

Tie in to house wall with Bluebirds or Wall Starters.

Supporting piers should be bonded, not tied

 

[tony1851]

Supporting piers should be bonded, not tied

Not necessarily.

 

[^woody^]

Not necessarily.

Oh. So loads are transferred along a few bits of 3mm wire that pivot vertically and three screws?

Brilliant advice.

 

[tony1851]

Oh. So loads are transferred along a few bits of 3mm wire that pivot vertically and three screws?

Brilliant advice.

My original wording was 'not necessarily', but didn't imply that loads can be transferred by bits of wire.

If a heavily-loaded beam is to have a pier as support at the end, Building Control usually ask for calcs. for the pier as well as the beam.

In 90% of the cases I've been asked to do that, I check the pier as a free-standing unit (ie without any advantage of bonding to the wall) and as long as the pier is constructed of suitable materials and is of suitable size, I've never had a problem.

The pier at the end of this beam was bonded to the (new) wall but was designed as a free-standing element.

But I agree that bonding to the wall is better in spreading the load over a wider area - just that it's not always essential.

 

[^woody^]

But I agree that bonding to the wall is better in spreading the load over a wider area - just that it's not always essential.

Well with the OPs situation with a crack down the pier I would not even mention ties.

But the thing is, there are a lot of inexperienced DIYers and incompetent builders about and their first thought is to drill a few plugs and fit a wall starter and think it's OK.

So I would suggest that ties are not even mentioned as an option unless someone qualified has actually stated to use them.

 

[Bonni]

Well with the OPs situation with a crack down the pier I would not even mention ties.

But the thing is, there are a lot of inexperienced DIYers and incompetent builders about and their first thought is to drill a few plugs and fit a wall starter and think it's OK.

So I would suggest that ties are not even mentioned as an option unless someone qualified has actually stated to use them.

We've done similar jobs as in the OP where the SE have just said ties and building control just always go what the SE says.

But as I've mentioned before, structural work should require building regs and building regs would want to see the calcs.