Total amateur requires professional advice on build quality of recent 3 metre high garden wall

[caskin]

Hi Guy's New to Forum so please bear with me.
In 2019 I contracted a local building firm to demolish old garden wall ,remove rubble and replace with new as follows: "Construct 28.38 meters squared new 100mm 4 inch block work 215mm faced with stretcher bond brick wall 9500mmX2250mm.450mm piers to be situated every 2375mm.Mix to be 4:1 Sand and cement ratio with a bucket handle jointed finish.brickwork to be finished with a soldier course"
Now in all honesty all of that is double dutch to me.But at the time and now,I ended up with what was to me, a beautiful garden wall with one central pier.

The company JcB masonry Ltd went bust in 2023,so cannot contact them.

To cut to the chase whilst out in the garden yesterday, up close and cosy to my "new" wall, I noticed that the pier on both sides where it met the wall, had top to bottom cracks! I ran a very thin skillet between the pier and wall, in most places it passed right through,however in others it was blocked, by what I do not know.So my question is I'm I worrying over nothing,is the pier tied into the wall using wall ties??? Or do I have a problem/ Many thanks caskin.

 

[Charlie George]

Hi Guy's New to Forum so please bear with me.
In 2019 I contracted a local building firm to demolish old garden wall ,remove rubble and replace with new as follows: "Construct 28.38 meters squared new 100mm 4 inch block work 215mm faced with stretcher bond brick wall 9500mmX2250mm.450mm piers to be situated every 2375mm.Mix to be 4:1 Sand and cement ratio with a bucket handle jointed finish.brickwork to be finished with a soldier course"
Now in all honesty all of that is double dutch to me.But at the time and now,I ended up with what was to me, a beautiful garden wall with one central pier.

The company JcB masonry Ltd went bust in 2023,so cannot contact them.

To cut to the chase whilst out in the garden yesterday, up close and cosy to my "new" wall, I noticed that the pier on both sides where it met the wall, had top to bottom cracks! I ran a very thin skillet between the pier and wall, in most places it passed right through,however in others it was blocked, by what I do not know.So my question is I'm I worrying over nothing,is the pier tied into the wall using wall ties??? Or do I have a problem/ Many thanks caskin.

Sounds like a movement joint, the ties you are hitting should be sleeved ties, ideally it should have pillars each end as well, a photo would help.

 

[caskin]

Sounds like a movement joint, the ties you are hitting should be sleeved ties, ideally it should have pillars each end as well, a photo would help.

My property backs onto the one main road in the area busy day and night, so there could be constant surface vibration,not that I notice it,but perhaps worth mentioning.
No end pillars, other than some jointing compound where my wall meets the neighbours,I do not think my wall is tied into my neighbours walls, which were also renewed at around the same time.I did mention this but was informed it was normal building practice?
I have the full build specification if that would help?

The photos are as follow.1.full pillar centre of wall 2.RH crack 3.LH crack 4.Outer wall 5. outer wall central seam with pillar behind.6.RH neighbours pillar with my wall showing sealant.7. LH neighbours wall again mine just sealant....hope they help Regards caskin

 

[caskin]

My property backs onto the one main road in the area busy day and night, so there could be constant surface vibration,not that I notice it,but perhaps worth mentioning.
No end pillars, other than some jointing compound where my wall meets the neighbours,I do not think my wall is tied into my neighbours walls, which were also renewed at around the same time.I did mention this but was informed it was normal building practice?
I have the full build specification if that would help?

The photos are as follow.1.full pillar centre of wall 2.RH crack 3.LH crack 4.Outer wall 5. outer wall central seam with pillar behind.6.RH neighbours pillar with my wall showing sealant.7. LH neighbours wall again mine just sealant....hope they help Regards caskin

 

[stuart45]

I don't see what he meant by blockwork faced with brick stretcher bond. It looks like a 9 inch brick wall built in Stretcher bond. It's really high for a 9 inch wall.
I guess the pier is tied with wall ties, as it's not bonded in. It's best to use a solid brick on the end of the brick on edge course, i.e. on the pier.

 

[stuart45]

I have the full build specification if that would help?

That would be a help. It sounds to me like the wall was supposed to be 9 inch blockwork with a brick face at the front, with 18 inch piers in the blockwork.

 

[caskin]

That would be a help. It sounds to me like the wall was supposed to be 9 inch blockwork with a brick face at the front, with 18 inch piers in the blockwork.

Hope this helps had a bit of work to find all original paper work,Should point out that both my wife and I are in our 80,s so find this sort of problem disturbing.All I want is some piece of mind in that is the wall safe? Has he done as agreed? As the company went to the wall in 2023 do I have any come back if necessary?
have attempted to load work schedule but "attach files" states file to big,so now stuck as do not knower how to get around it.
By the way many thanks for assisting.

 

[caskin]

Hope this helps had a bit of work to find all original paper work,Should point out that both my wife and I are in our 80,s so find this sort of problem disturbing.All I want is some piece of mind in that is the wall safe? Has he done as agreed? As the company went to the wall in 2023 do I have any come back if necessary?
have attempted to load work schedule but "attach files" states file to big,so now stuck as do not knower how to get around it.
By the way many thanks for assisting.

Hi Stuart All quiet on the western front? Have managed to upload some of the work schedule?main concern is is wall OK?

 

[jj4091]

Not a bricky but done a bit of diy brick/ block laying over the years. As far as I can see the answer to your question is the wall safe is yes. If the piers are tied in as Stuart suggest then I don't think there is anything wrong with what he has done from what can be seen. I would suspect the cracking pointing is just settlement or shrinkage, the levels of the bricks in the wall and pier appear to be the same so nothing moving at different rates. If those cracks do get any bigger then personally I would be inclined to fit a couple of 50mm stainless steel right angle brackets to the corner where the wall meets the pillar. I would get some more brown silicone fitted down the joints to stop the possibility of water getting in and freezing over winter. But other than that everything looks fine to me.

 

[^woody^]

What's the actual problem?

The pier has cracked because it's tied not bonded. But what are the other defects/concerns?

 

[stuart45]

There's not much you can do now. There isn't the number of piers stated, as well as the ones shown aren't 450mm piers. He's used Stretcher bond instead of Flemish, as in the spec, although Stretcher bond does give you a better face on the back. It's a bit quicker and easier to use Stretcher. Without the piers it is technically too high for a 9inch wall, although there are quite a few still standing that high.