Recurring Stability Issues with Brick Piers

[stuart45]

The OP also said that the piers are loose at the base, and it's only the railings holding them up. The builder has also had a few attempts at a rebuild.

 

[wessex101]

The OP also said that the piers are loose at the base, and it's only the railings holding them up. The builder has also had a few attempts at a rebuild.

That's not how I read it but you could well be right. I cannot see where OP said previous repairs have been attempted and failed and it is the gate post pier that has debonded from the wall that is mentioned, not all the piers. Hopefully the OP will come back and clarify.

18 months ago I had two front garden walls built with reclaimed London Bricks. There are six piers along the two walls. Three of them have already had their top layer of bricks come loose and are not properly fixed to the main wall anymore (they wobble but are held in place by the railings).

The pier which holds the gate post has an iron bar in it (see photo), which makes it more solid, but even that isn't properly attached to the lower wall anymore (held on by railings though).

I still maintain that it could be a defect with the mortar. If the debonding is more widespread then maybe it is a more fundamental issue. An out of date bag of cement; frost; contaminated water in mortar mix etc. etc.

As Tony suggested, if the "bricklayer" has been unable to identify the problem it does rather suggest that he may not be a proper brickie and in that case who knows what they did?

 

[stuart45]

That's not how I read it but you could well be right. I cannot see where OP said previous repairs have been attempted and failed and it is the gate post pier that has debonded from the wall that is mentioned, not all the piers.

The last paragraph on post 1.

Hi everyone,



Any advice on cause/how to rectify would be much appreciated. Some of the piers have been rebuilt two/three times and it keeps happening - the builder is flummoxed

Cheers

 

[cdbe]

I'd get the tape measure and grinder out, cut those bent bits and one spike off the ends of the railings, rebuild in 1x2 around the railings with a bit of thin cardboard round the ends to allow for movement. Mortar looks a bit weak, but it could be the sand. For belt and braces SBR - in the mortar and a brush of slurry on the bricks as they're laid. Get it done before the summer, don't use the gate for at least a week.

 

[wessex101]

The last paragraph on post 1.

D'Oh! I completely missed that. That blows my theory out of the water.