Loft - Help with repairing & insulating it !

[robspan]

I'm after some advice on repairing broken bricks in my loft, and then insultting it properly...

The house is semi-detached, built around 1895, the loft has a larger area over the 2 bedrooms :
View media item 30173 View media item 30174and a smaller lower area over the bathroom View media item 30161
The plan is to move all our junk to the smaller area, minimizing cold/damp/dust, and then "develop" the larger area...

I'm working on the smaller area first, and have just used a wire brush so far - before I go any further I'm worried about these things :
- Left of the chimney, there are 1 to 6 courses missing :
View media item 30163 View media item 30170- Right of the chimney & back wall - the bricks don't reach the top, the corners don't meet, and birds have been in at some point :
View media item 30165 View media item 30166 View media item 30167- You can see the sky over the bricks more clearly here :
View media item 30168 View media item 30169Some of the top 1 or 2 courses are loose, are the mortar is quite crumbly in places.

I can mortar & point the gaps quite happily, but should I also :
- rebuild the 1 to 6 courses up to the top ?
- build the back wall right to the top with small chunks ?

Thanks in advance !

 

[ladylola]

Some of the top 1 or 2 courses are loose, are the mortar is quite crumbly in places.

I can mortar & point the gaps quite happily, but should I also :
- rebuild the 1 to 6 courses up to the top ?
- build the back wall right to the top with small chunks ?

Thanks in advance !

Rebuild? to be honest it will be cosmetic really, it'll tidy up the wall but won't actually be doing anything else. Looking at the pictures there are a lot of straight joints so probably just chucked in on a friday to save the hassel of clearing away

Small chunks , or cuts , again not going to do any harm but they will be a pain to get in behind any timbers.

It's most likely to be a lime mortar which is why some of the bricks are loose and the joints seem crumbly. There's no real need to use a lime mix unless you want to , it's in a roof space and not visable to the outside world just a simple weak sand cement mix would be fine.

It's also probably easier to fill any bird sized holes that you have difficulty bricking up with chicken wire or wire wool.

 

[robspan]

Some of the top 1 or 2 courses are loose, are the mortar is quite crumbly in places.
I can mortar & point the gaps quite happily, but should I also :
- rebuild the 1 to 6 courses up to the top ?
- build the back wall right to the top with small chunks ?

Rebuild? to be honest it will be cosmetic really, it'll tidy up the wall but won't actually be doing anything else. [..]
it's in a roof space and not visable to the outside world just a simple weak sand cement mix would be fine. [..]
It's also probably easier to fill any bird sized holes that you have difficulty bricking up with chicken wire or wire wool.

Thanks for the advice, I'll let you know how it goes !

Dust is a real hassle because of the gaps, and there being no felt under the tiles.

What is the best thing to put between the rafters, with regards to air flow, condensation etc ?

 

[JohnD]

nothing

When you have it reroofed you can have a breathing membrane put in (it's what is used now instead of felt)

If it's above the bedroom ceilings, and the loft insulation, consider it to be outdoors.

An unfelted roof will always give a filthy loft.

 

[robspan]

nothing
When you have it reroofed you can have a breathing membrane put in (it's what is used now instead of felt)
If it's above the bedroom ceilings, and the loft insulation, consider it to be outdoors.
An unfelted roof will always give a filthy loft.

I want to put insulation in the roof - to warm up the loft, and to reduce dust coming through the tiles.
I was thinking of something like the Celotex between the rafters.

If there's no felt/membrane, will there be problems with ventilation or condensation ?

Is this a good idea if there's already insulation between the joists ?