Extension brickwork not lining up with existing house

[Mervster]

Good evening everyone

This is my first post on the forum, i'm just after a bit of advice really

I am currently having a single storey extension across the back of my house.

The builder and i agreed that the brickwork would be toothed in to the existing house so the join would look seemless.

Initially the builder had some issues with the brickwork below damp course on one side of the house as the level was out below the damp course (he demonstrated this to me).

Today they have been completing the brickwork on the other side of the extension and have had levelling problems, ultimately the brick levels on the existing house and the new extension do not align, as such we cannot tooth in this side of the extension.

I questioned the builder and he said the level was out on the existing house, he said that this was quite a common problem. He has followed the damp course level from the existing house, i have checked the his brickwork and all seems very accurate.

Does this all check out? I have no reason to believe he has been tardy in his work but do not know any better.

 

[stuart45]

You can get problems when toothing is used as it means you have to follow the existing gauge, especially when using metric to Imperial bricks.
This is why extensions are usually stepped back from the face line.
Put a few pics on for a better opinion.

 

[^woody^]

Your builder is a novice.

There is no reason why new walls can not be aligned and levelled to existing walls and bonded in.

All this is sorted out before getting to the damp course level.

 

[Mervster]

Hopefully the pic is attached, you can see the level of the damp course on the new brickwork that runs straight to the existing damp course on the house (on the other side) but is not level on this side

 

[^woody^]

He's ****ed up completely by not picking the brickwork up below DPC level

He should have guaged down from the course below DPC, but he has instead guaged up and ****ed up.

 

[Mervster]

Thanks for the replies, but would this not have affected the join to the existing wall? What I mean is that the brickwork on the new wall needs to be level, I cant see how he would have altered it that much without throwing the level on the new wall???

 

[^woody^]

Thanks for the replies, but would this not have affected the join to the existing wall? What I mean is that the brickwork on the new wall needs to be level, I cant see how he would have altered it that much without throwing the level on the new wall???

Of course it would.

Once the new bricks are level with the existing bricks at the DPC level, then it's just a case of following the guage of the existing wall. ie all the joints will then line up.

 

[stuart45]

What your builder is saying to you is that the DPC on this end of the existing is 1.5 inches higher than the other end of the existing work?

 

[Mervster]

Thanks woody

He is saying the dpc level is out on this side. The dpc is set on the new extension (which does align on the other side of the house) and runs true all the way around until it rejoins the house at this section where it doesn't align (sorry I'm rambling,just trying to paint a picture)
I've checked the levels on his brickwork and its spot on. If the brickwork was toothed in the dpc would not be level??

 

[tomfe]

Unless the original house is out by half a course..
Take a pic around the other side.

 

[Mervster]

To be fair the other side revealed the brickwork (on existing house) below dpc to be not level with the brickwork above dpc. He corrected it at the time but he did show me how out it was, to say I was surprised was an understatement

 

[stuart45]

When you toothe out for an extension it's really important to check out all the levels before you get started, so you can see if there will be any issues.
As many extensions are set back with wall starters these days a lot of trowels don't see the problems ahead when toothing out.

 

[^woody^]

What he should do with out of level DPC, is split the difference so that there is some slight out of level walls which is not noticeable to the eye, but things match up at each end.

Say for instance, keeping the rear elevation level as it has windows and doors, but adjusting the side walls to take up the difference in levels whilst still matching the courses to the house.

The thing is, it's very difficult/impossible to see walls slightly out of level, but very easy to see when courses don't match up.

It's not all about putting a level on a wall.

That's why he is a novice.

 

[^woody^]

And one other thing. Did he level with a proper optical or laser level on a tripod, or just use his 1m level from one end to the other - adding cumulative errors as he moved the level?

 

[stuart45]

With the brickwork in the latest photo, you need to go with the existing a bit more with the first few bricks so the existing does not look quite so bad.