Is this a problem? No brick in internal wall

[carlmc25]

I have just been stripping tiles and discovered a hole in the inner wall, the outer wall has an air brick but the inner wall appears to be missing two bricks at least. Firstly, structurally is the building ok if I don't fill the gap and secondly, I assume I should fill the gap and if so, how? I basically want to tile the wall, it is in the bathroom, so what do I need to do?

Many thanks.

 

[foxhole]

Vent is handy in bathroom or you can seal with a couple of bricks and fill flush with bonding plaster or cut in a square of cement board and make good with Bonding .
(Remove those loose areas first.)

 

[carlmc25]

Vent is handy in bathroom or you can seal with a couple of bricks and fill flush with bonding plaster or cut in a square of cement board and make good with Bonding .
(Remove those loose areas first.)

Thank you, if I block it off with board and tile over it will it be fine structurally? If I do tile over it are you saying maybe I should also put a vent in the tiles (on inner wall) to then vent through to the outer wall?

Sorry for all the questions, I just don't want to tile over the gap if it is going to cause any damage to the house elsewhere.

 

[foxhole]

Whether you keep a vent or not depends on room layout and personal preference . Not a structural problem whatever you decide .

 

[PeteThePen1]

Just a passing thought. If it is a bathroom then moist air will be a problem without adequate ventilation. Whole house heat recovery ventilation is brilliant and not that expensive if you DIY. The worst part is getting the ducting fixed. The traditional British bathroom fan vent would also do as they suck out the moist air when on but stop unwanted loss of warm air when off (the better qualityones!). So, think ventilation and condensation as well as how to fill the hole. The other thought I had was to ask why there was such a large vent brick on the outside. What was it ventilating on the inside when the house was built?

 

[carlmc25]

Just a passing thought. If it is a bathroom then moist air will be a problem without adequate ventilation. Whole house heat recovery ventilation is brilliant and not that expensive if you DIY. The worst part is getting the ducting fixed. The traditional British bathroom fan vent would also do as they suck out the moist air when on but stop unwanted loss of warm air when off (the better qualityones!). So, think ventilation and condensation as well as how to fill the hole. The other thought I had was to ask why there was such a large vent brick on the outside. What was it ventilating on the inside when the house was built?

Thanks for the feedback, the house has a loft conversion so I assumed that was the reason for the middle floor having the air brick? That is a guess though, so if I put a standard extractor fan on the inner wall, do I need to duct it or as there is already an air brick, can I just let it do it's thing?

 

[PeteThePen1]

Bearing in mind that you are talkiing to another DIYer, my thought would be to duct it. The logic behind that is that you are presumably going through a cavity wall. You have not mentioned being drowned in tiny polystyrene balls, so I am guessing that the cavity wall has no insulation. When you do get insulation, as I am sure you will, the ducting will stop the material pouring out of the vent and into the extract fan. Hope it all comes together soon.