What to cover top of old brick wall with?

[pilsbury]

Have an old solid brick wall that used to form part of the outhouses, now forms part of my extension wall 4m high. The top is a course of bricks is on their side and they have been previously painted in a black bitumen like covering. This has degraded quite a bit and there is no real way of getting it off. I’ve had to do a little bit of mortar repair so it looks a bit patchwork.

What can I cover this with to firstly waterproof and secondly tidy it up?

 

[JohnD]

you could knock off the defective bricks and replace with a row of engineering bricks, which are dense and resist water and frost.

Available in deep red and very dark blue.

 

[^woody^]

Is this a parapet wall? Does it have or need a dpc to stop water moving down into the building?

 

[pilsbury]

I suppose it does woody. Currently the Wall is topped with bricks on their side sitting on to of plain tiles laid flat. All coated in bitumen.

 

[RayCaister]

Lead strip ... https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=c...AhWLORoKHVcyCBMQ9QEIMDAE#imgrc=LCOa_Zm-WQ93bM:

 

[^woody^]

Lead as a coping, as an after thought, rarely works. It will also need a suitable drip designing.

You can just recoat it, add other cappings or copings or cover it with a metal cover. But it could look crap if you use the wrong thing.

Then you need to consider water getting in the front or back of the parapet and soaking down to the room below. There would normally be a DPC or tray that laps the roof flashing upstand.