Retaining garden wall advice

[k4renm4c]

I inherited a garden with a retaining wall. It was painted new for viewings but over years has become obvious it was not waterproofed. There is no visible membranbe behind the wall and the weep holes are blocked. The bricks are therefore saturated and whilst it doesnt appear to be unable to hold the weight, it just damn ugly. I tried to get the paint off but it still looks rubbish.

I started removing the top layers of weeds and gravel this week. My plan was to dig a trench behind it and paint it with bitumen and add a membrane, maybe even polysterene sheets to create a dry layer. Ive ordered peforated drain pipes which can drain at end of wall.

However, it dawned on me last night that damp could come from the ground from the lower levels of bricks. I saw some pics online where the membrane was inserted between bricks just above the DPC. Surely the damp can just rise?!

If I can only dig behind, and cant stop vertical damp, am I wasting my time? I wanted to render the wall but I wont if there is a risk of damp.

NB: patio etc is coming up anyway if there was anthing I could do in front of wall.

Any help appreciated! Karen

 

[ree]

You have a single brick wall painted with "plastic" paint ie. the wrong kind of paint. Masonry paint should have been used. Essentially, yes, you are wasting your time doing any remedial work to that wall in that position.

If you render the brickwork, the render will blow off, and look terrible in a year or two.

You could build another more substantial wall, with drainage at the back, but i wouldn't paint or render it.

 

[^woody^]

Whilst moisture could rise via capillarity, this will tend to be confined to the lower few courses due to lack of pressure to push the moisture up, and evaporation.

So after coating the rear, it may be enough to keep the wall relatively damp free to enable it to be rendered.

If you stop the render two courses above the path, this will restrict any dampness in the wall to near ground level, and prevent it rising to affect the render.