Wall tie replacement

[mazears]

I have a 1930's house and the wall ties have rusted away. I got my hand in the cavity and found one which broke easily. It is straight steel only about 5mm thick,and dosent seem to be of the fish tail variety. Can i replace the ties without isolating these old rusty ones? I was going to use the expanding mechanical stainless steel ties (pam ties) that grip to the inner and outer bricks as there is cavity insulation. A pro builder came round and said you need to drill from the outside starting in the middle of a brick - i thought you should drill the hole just to one side of the bricks centre?

 

[stuart45]

If the ties are the butterfly type they can be left in, but with the thicker ones there is a risk that the rusting metal expands enough to lift and crack the brickwork.

 

[gday2uk]

Yes drill to one side of outer brick otherwise you'll likely hit the joint on the inner skin. You'll be able to feel if you do though.

 

[mazears]

Not sure if they are the thicker ones but definitely not fish tails-Can i get away without isolating these? Also is it best to drill the wall tie holes slightly up at an angle from outside in, in order to help stop the ingress of water to the internal skin - or can you just drill straight?

 

[amwc]

the helifix style retro ties are designed not to let water go any where near the inner skin also they are really easy to install. if the existing ties are rusting then they need to be isolated really its not a big job you just have to hire a metal detector to find them.