Garden Wall Collapsed

[Sipherlucian]

Hi Folks, hoping someone might have an idea of how this could have happened. 15m wall only 5 years old completely collapsed from bad wind over the weekend. each section was roughly 3-3.4m long before a pier was put in, the left end was just butted up to an existing block wall without any wall starter ties, to me that looks like it might not have had enough support. there was an expansion joint between the piers in the middle and then the wall to the right was tied in to the red bricks with a starter tie. i tipped a pier in the middle last year with digger and damage several blocks that you can see are still standing in the middle, had a bricky look at the wall and his recommendation was to just repair those blocks, i intended to do that in spring.

the mortar is coming right off with very little effort, most of it came off when it fell, it feels very sandy, i was measuring whats left to get an idea of the overall length and the hook of the tape when into the cement with a small push.

question is, i dont think this was solely from the digger arm bang i think there may have been underlying issues there and id like to hear peoples opinion please

 

[23vc]

Probably a combination of duff mortar, one end not tied in, expansion joint not having a wall starter to tie them together and still allow them to move independently?

 

[DAZB]

The fact that the wall has fallen and all the blocks have seperated from each other in nice neat lines means that there was very little adhesion in the mortar and most likely cause would be a weak mortar mix. Was it a bricky that did the original job or a DIY'er as that is a very rookie mistake to make. On the bright side it won't take you long to clean off the blocks to reuse them.

 

[Koolpc]

The fact that the wall has fallen and all the blocks have seperated from each other in nice neat lines means that there was very little adhesion in the mortar and most likely cause would be a weak mortar mix. Was it a bricky that did the original job or a DIY'er as that is a very rookie mistake to make. On the bright side it won't take you long to clean off the blocks to reuse them.

This...

 

[Sipherlucian]

The fact that the wall has fallen and all the blocks have seperated from each other in nice neat lines means that there was very little adhesion in the mortar and most likely cause would be a weak mortar mix. Was it a bricky that did the original job or a DIY'er as that is a very rookie mistake to make. On the bright side it won't take you long to clean off the blocks to reuse them.

yeah it was a team of brickies, 3-4 i believe. really surprised at this cause the job itself was very professional and tidy.

 

[stuart45]

Have a look at the recommended heights for garden walls. For 100mm block even in zone 1, yours is well over that maximum.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

The mortar hasn't turned to dust, it's solid but detached from the blocks.

Was the weather hot when it was built? The blocks may have sucked the water out of the mortar.

It looks very tall to be built from a single block on edge. I reckon I could have pushed that over by hand if I wanted to.

 

[jj4091]

No buildings insurance?

 

[Sipherlucian]

No buildings insurance?

yeah there is its just gonna take a while

 

[Sipherlucian]

The mortar hasn't turned to dust, it's solid but detached from the blocks.

Was the weather hot when it was built? The blocks may have sucked the water out of the mortar.

It looks very tall to be built from a single block on edge. I reckon I could have pushed that over by hand if I wanted to.

the mortar crumbles in your hand, not that much effort. i reckon that too

 

[Sipherlucian]

The mortar hasn't turned to dust, it's solid but detached from the blocks.

Was the weather hot when it was built? The blocks may have sucked the water out of the mortar.

It looks very tall to be built from a single block on edge. I reckon I could have pushed that over by hand if I wanted to.

it was mid summer, everyone seems to agree on the dry bricks being the issue

 

[noseall]

the mortar crumbles in your hand, not that much effort. i reckon that too

I'll bet my old 10.5 boots that it was ready-mix mortar.