Much of the UK’s housing stock is made of bricks, a tried and tested method of building since Roman times but brick houses of a certain age can harbour many a problem.
When bricks are made, they have a face, an exposed side that repels weather, but over the years that weatherproofing loses it’s effectiveness which is when damp and cracks can appear in the exterior walls of your house.
So what can you do about damaged brickwork?
There are many ways to repair bricks, although sometimes replacement is the most obvious solution, although that is much harder than it sounds, especially when the bricks are weathered as the last thing you want is for your new brick to stick out like a sore thumb.
Sometimes the bricks have so much frost damage that replacement and repair is just too costly and a wall covering needs to be applied over the top.
This has a two-fold effect. In one view it should transform the appearance and also it will restore the weather beating ability of the walls of your home.
So if my bricks are REALLY bad, can they be rendered?
Yes they can have a coat of render over the top, although bear in mind once this is done it is almost impossible to change your mind in later years and go back to brick.
Rendering, in this case, refers to the application of a (usually) cementious compound, in 2 stages, over the bricks of a building to provide a weatherproof coating and to consolidate mortar and bricks underneath.
This is usually finished with some type of covering or coating.
Rendering poor quality brick
Bricks are often rendered when their condition is so poor that rendering over the top of them at least to consolidate a friable (loose) surface can be the last chance option for a house in poor condition.
When a brick faced house has such poor condition bricks, sometimes applying a coating of render over the top is perhaps the only way to rescue the house from dilapidation.
When bricks deteriorate, they lose the ability to repel the weather, things such as rainwater, snow and frost, and therefore the brick covering becomes far less effective at keeping the damp out.
Therefore if your bricks are crumbling or falling away, the only option that remains is to apply a 2 coat render over the top of the brickwork.
We render bricks often when either the home owner wishes to change the appearance of the house, or when the brick wall is in such bad condition it cannot be restored back to brick.
Another thing that can go wrong is the mortar joints, or pointing, the lines between the bricks that hold them all in place. If they start to fall out, you have a serious problem and to repoint a wall is not cheap, and is very time consuming too.
Our contractors sometimes find bits of the wall that are so bad, we need to get out bricklaying hats on and replace some of the bricks before we go any further with the house repairs.
When we render bricks, we don’t just leave it at that….
Render, if left unprotected from the elements, can cause problems of its own, so we always apply a good thick coat of our special weatherproof wall coatings which will protect and enhance the building exterior for years to come!
Protection for brick walls is available from this website
Yes indeed and what better cost effective way to give the walls the protection they need is by having an Specialist Wall coating installed on your exterior walls!
Not only does this totally eliminate exterior maintenance, we have a range of products available meaning that your brick wall can have the appearance of a painted brick wall, retaining the brick lines beneath
…..or the walls can be rendered and left smooth or slightly textured
…or if your bricks are in good condition and you wish to keep the exterior brick appearance, you can have a damp proof clear coating on the walls!. Excellent value for money too!
Whatever problems that you face with external brick walls, the NPA team are available for a free consultation.
We carry out all kinds of repairs to brick walls, but of course we also repair other types of wall surface such as tyrolean, render and pebbledash, but if you have any concerns about the condition of your brick faced home, we can help you.
If you want to find out the exact cost of renovating the block walls on the property then we can arrange a free survey of your home, which is without obligation.
Call us on 0800 970 4928 for more info.