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In general, masonry work that has been properly
constructed requires only very minimal maintenance or repairs to retain
it’s good condition. On older buildings it will be much more likely that
the joints between the brickwork and stone will be degraded and be
showing signs of deterioration which can be attributed to any number of
problems.
Problems that can cause your brickwork or masonry to deteriorate
include moister damage from leaking roofs, damaged guttering and drain
pipes or leaking plumbing. Ingress of moister at ground floor level due
to inadequate damp proofing is a major cause of masonry damage, other
problems may even affect sills, lintels, eves and parapets. Structural
settling can also be devastating to brickwork.
Sometimes it can be the case that problems with masonry and brickwork arise due to poor workmanship of the original Mason. Poor mixing of incorrect proportions can lead to frost damage and sulphate attack by soluble salts contained within the bricks themselves.
Sometimes issues of damp are hard to avoid. The normal evaporation of moister from the bricks and mortar can be affected restricting the normal evaporation process due to extreme shading by overhangs and close proximity of adjacent buildings.
Before attempting to take on any repair or restoration of your
damaged brickwork or masonry, the underlying causes of your particular
problems should be addressed. The amount of the repair will be governed
by the degree to which the decay has penetrated. In the worst
circumstances partial rebuilding of the structure may be the only
remedy. Carefully probing in to the bed joints of the building will be
the best indication of the condition of the brickwork. Where the mortar
has completely degraded it is a waste of time simply to re-point and is
often necessary to rebuild the entire structure.
Preparation of the mortar is paramount as it may vary in
composition widely according to requirements, but the general rule is
that the strength of the mortar should never exceed the strength of the
actual bricks themselves. Over strength mixing can lead to serious
degradation of softer bricks and stone, this being attributed to the
hard mortar resisting and restricting evaporation through its dense
surface leading to saturated bricks, the affected brick work is then
subjected to a hard frost and it will crack and break down the structure
of the bricks.
There are many different types and styles of pointing. Flush
pointing is a common finish on all fair faced work, both internal and
external. Joints are filled flush to the masonry surface forming no
recess to collect dust. Struck and Cut style pointing is usually
internal and used to pick out the bricks in a feature, which is done by
running a trowel along the bed joint and pressing in at the lower edge
of the joint. Rounded or Bucket handle and weather struck pointing,
recessed pointing and tucked pointing are just a few more examples of jointing methods used by builders over the last 2000 years, luckily most property in need of maintenance today was only built in the last 300 years.
If you need to carry out re-pointing or replacing of brickwork or stone
to a listed building in Nottingham you should be aware that all repairs
must dry to a shade that is consistent to that of the original property
or you will be made to remove or color it until it does.
When your in need of brickwork repairs or building and
restoration work doing and need the expertise of a seasoned
professional, Dcs-Services have a gleaming reputation and are one of the finest builders in Essex.
Read also Location Ideas for Buying Property in Essex
