Frost damaged bricks?

[Webcreators]

Hi All

I need some advice please.

I am about to purchase a house and then found out that there are two damaged bricks in the back side of the house which I was told by the surveyor that potentially could be due to frost damage. The damaged bricks are just under the DPC (plastic) and about 1.5m apart.

The surveyor has suggested for me to consult a brick specialist to check whether the bricks are suitably rated for use under DPC; as such areas under DPC are subject to damp.

I then inspected all sides of the house and cannot find anymore damaged bricks and it is relatively a large house.

The house was built in 2002 and believe to be done by David Wilson Homes. The house is located in a village near Buckingham and back of the house + garden is a farm yard.

My knowledge in building is very limited. The brick specialists are seem to be expensive and I do not even know where to start in order to find a reliable one within the area.

I have attached the photos for your reference. What is your opinion?

1. From these photos, do you think that these bricks have been damaged because of frost damage?

2. Is this is a minor condition which can be ignored. I.e only have a cosmetic impact.

3. Will the rest of bricks prone to deteriorate?

4. What can be the potential root causes?

Any feedback will be much appreciated.

Regards

Shane

 

[^woody^]

Photos not working

 

[wessex101]

In the absence of photos I will have a wild stab in the dark. Generally bricks that suffer from frost damage is due to 2 things.

1. Wrong sort of brick, either too soft or a hard face on a soft brick. If that was the case here I would expect to see more than 2 bricks blown
2. Localised saturation of the brickwork such as running overflow or leaking gutter. This could explain why only 2 bricks have blown so identify the source of the water and remove it.

Sounds like a very minor issue. However, living near John Bercow would be enough to put me off.

 

[^woody^]

On the side of my house, there were two bricks below DPC which had the faces blown by frost. These are solid engineers!

In the limited space between the DPC and the path, and taking into account the potential to break the DPC, I decided to just gob them up with a strong mix, and made some fake joints.

 

[Webcreators]

Sorry guys, photo links seem to be not working.

Photos attached. Please have a look...

Thanks for you feedback.

 

[^woody^]

It's frost and damp. The white salts are indicative of a raised moisture below the DPC - that's not a bad thing, but is common and means the bricks stay damp and frost freezes this and blows the face. Thats the root cause.
That tap is the most likley source of the water splashing up the bricks or keeping the adjacent ground wetter than normal. Not a leak, just useage.

The bricks may or may not be suitable below DPC level, or it could be a bably fired brick and very strong mortar casing the brick face to blow. The fact that its just limited bricks indicates its not a widespread issue witht the bricks generally -

Its not a problem, and is more down to aesthetics than anything. Your numpty surveyor could have told you all this, and no need to go hunting for brick specialists.

No need to put you off the purchase.

 

[Webcreators]

Thank you very much woody! That helps...

 

[stuart45]

I decided to just gob them up with a strong mix, and made some fake joints.

I need to make some fake joints like these. https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/2921181833...=1006578&device=c&campaignid=861364963&crdt=0
Can you explain the correct method please?

 

[^woody^]

Can you explain the correct method please?

Here's one I made earlier. Work it out yourself, because I'm ****ed if I can remember a thing.

 

[stuart45]

Cheers Woody, great info as usual.