Mortar crack stitching questions

[bokkie]

Hi all. so I have had a vertical crack appear between front door and landing window. the crack follows the mortar, stepped up, roughly 8 brick courses(60 cm) high.

Had it looked at and it is not structural, so we're all good there.
So I bought a crack stitching kit online to avoid the crack reappearing and have all the necessary tools, but have a couple of questions.

Firstly, it is suggested to space the bars at 45 cm intervals. As the crack is only 60 cm, between a window and door frame, should i just put 1 at the top and one at the bottom, leaving 60 cm between bars. Or should I space them at 30 cm intervals, so 1 at the top, 1 in the middle and 1 at the bottom?

Also, I have read somewhere that it is suggested to rake out to 50mm at the top and bottom of the crack and insert 2 helibars, 1 on top of the other in the raked out mortar. Obviously fixed with the polyester resin compund.
Is this recommended, or would 1 helibar in each be enough, raked to a depth of 35mm?

Thanks all, hope this makes sense

 

[^woody^]

Not structural? What is it then?

 

[rougharsedbrickie]

Two helibars in the same joint as you describe is part of the technique for a helibeam not crack stitching, I’d suggest a trip to helifix.co.uk

 

[KenGMac]

bokkie,. good evening.

OK crack which is going through bricks and mortar?

How wide is this crack externally? are there any matching internal cracks?

How old is the property?

Suggested repairs would be dependent on the above?

As an aside have a look at the "helibar" web site for installation advice.

Word of caution, if you proceed with this type of repair, the external wall brick joint that has been raked out will have a new mortar "Scar" that will stand out like the proverbial sore thumb, which will stay prominent for some time and simply draw attention to this "Crack"

Ken.

 

[bokkie]

bokkie,. good evening.

OK crack which is going through bricks and mortar?

How wide is this crack externally? are there any matching internal cracks?

How old is the property?

Suggested repairs would be dependent on the above?

As an aside have a look at the "helibar" web site for installation advice.

Word of caution, if you proceed with this type of repair, the external wall brick joint that has been raked out will have a new mortar "Scar" that will stand out like the proverbial sore thumb, which will stay prominent for some time and simply draw attention to this "Crack"

Ken.

Hi and thanks for your reply. Only going through the mortar, stepped up between door and window.
Property is around 60 years old i guess.

 

[KenGMac]

How wide is the crack?

 

[bokkie]

How wide is the crack?

Not very wide at all, only a mm probably. Just a hairline crack. But I want to sort it before it widens any more as it appears on the wall inside as well.

 

[KenGMac]

There is a very, very high probability that this crack has been caused by Thermal Movement when in hot weather the brick work expands.

If there are no purpose built expansion joints on this elevation then the bricks can at times make their own.

Personally i would leave well alone for the time being, re-visit this crack in November ?

Ken.

 

[^woody^]

There is a very, very high probability that this crack has been caused by Thermal Movement when in hot weather the brick work expands.

Not if it's stepped, and not if it's on the internal face too.

And yet it's "not structural".

 

[bokkie]

There is a very, very high probability that this crack has been caused by Thermal Movement when in hot weather the brick work expands.

If there are no purpose built expansion joints on this elevation then the bricks can at times make their own.

Personally i would leave well alone for the time being, re-visit this crack in November ?

Ken.

Thanks for your comments