Rebuilding a garden wall: reusing the original bricks

[mike004]

Part of my front wall has just collapsed. It's a fairly low wall on a slope, only about 7 courses at its highest point.

Some of the slabs and piers look to be intact. But would it be best to recover the individual bricks and then rebuild again from the foundation course? It looks like a time-consuming job, though...

Any special tools required for breaking up brick slabs and chipping off the old mortar?
I suppose a sharp cold chisel would do it.

 

[Nozzle]

I needed to do something similar to this, but as luck would have it I own an comperssor and a pneumatic chissel. This is ideal as I imagine doing it with a hammer and chissel and still needing to hold the brick is very cumbersome. I also found that you need to chip away, not towards, a corner. i.e. work from a corner to the middle then turn over. This stops the corners chipping off. Don't forget to dig out the dimple too. Called a frog I think??

Nozzle

 

[john4703]

I used to clean old bricks using an axe. Far easier than a cold chisel

 

[r896neo]

A brick hammer and old brick laying trowel are the best tools for it. It works best when done in your hand rather than on a bench etc.

An axe is probably not a bad idea but a bit heavy to wield after doing a few hundred.

 

[noseall]

If the mortar practically falls off then give it a go with either a hammer and bolster chisel, brick hammer or an axe.

If the mortar is stubborn you will end up damaging the brick-face and spend an eternity cleaning bricks, so get some new ones.

I would look into why it has fallen down particularly if the foundation concrete has rotated etc.

 

[mike004]

If the mortar practically falls off then give it a go with either a hammer and bolster chisel, brick hammer or an axe.

If the mortar is stubborn you will end up damaging the brick-face and spend an eternity cleaning bricks, so get some new ones.

I would look into why it has fallen down particularly if the foundation concrete has rotated etc.

Thanks for the replies. Some of the mortar I can kick off! Some is solid as arock.

I've got about a dozen fresh bricks in store. So I may compromise and make the wall a couple of courses smaller.
The gas company dug up the pavement near to the wall last year. I suspect that didn't help.