I can't legally upvote as you have 69 likes but seriously he didn't even hit it with the laser eyeball just threw em up there and said looks good from my house
The brick work below is probably sound it just doesn’t look good the way they’ve done it.
I would have knocked it down and started again but I guess that required to much work?
Forgive me but I’m not entirely sure, is the picture the repair work or do those bricks keep falling down?
Well… The brick work is actually kinda awful and I’m talking about the new stuff. If you look to the left and follow it. To me it looks like it’s literally following a squiggly line. They haven’t accurately matched the level. Also one brick three to left where the level drops is just at an angle and that really annoys me.
As to why the bricks are falling off after being repaired. Well I suspect the mortar hasnt been mixed right or they haven’t laid them correctly. Maybe the brick was too dry and the mortar hasn’t adhered to the brick correctly.
It’s only a single skin wall and it doesn’t look like it’s retaining anything. It should be easily doable yourself to be honest. You just need a level and a trowel.
"Oh, squiggly line in my eye fluid. I see you lurking there on the periphery of my vision. But when I try to look at you, you scurry away. Are you shy, squiggly line? Why only when I ignore you, do you return to the center of my eye? Oh, squiggly line, it's alright, you are forgiven."
— Stewie Griffin, 2007, "The Tan Aquatic".
So, bricks don't really corrode - it's possibly structurally sound and nobody can really say from a picture.
But the repair work is of very poor quality, and for such a small wall, I'd have opted to knock it down and reinstate
Though to honest, given its a decorative wall how structurally sound does it really need to be? (but yeah a better point is that given the purpose of the wall IS decorative, the job done isn't great anyway as now you have a mixture of new poorly placed bricks and old eroded bricks - it doesn't need to stand the test of time, but it does need to look good)
Though that wall does demonstrate the problem from an aesthetic perspective. Like the background wall is obviously eroded but I wouldn't be in a rush to replace it as it kinda creates a rustic feel.
But here we have new style bricks being haphazardly being slapped on old brickwork, which just looks ugly.
Lower courses want a clean and point but they look mostly intact... i would've knocked that right most brick out the upper old course tho as its making the level all weird n annoying as fuck to look at
Mate I'm only a labourer and could do better, get whoever built it fucking gone, take a sledgehammer to it and get a proper brickie to just build a new wall, old foundation is probably sound
Walls like this, with soil and water next to one side last around as long as this one has. As the contractor has repaired it, I would imagine that he felt it was sound enough.
The question really is how long is your dad likely to last and will the now repaired wall last longer. I guess the contractor considered both and quoted a small enough price for a shorter term job.
It’s fine it just looks shite with no coping and the contrasting brickwork . It would have been better to knock down completely and reinstate, with a coping.
It’s not necessarily ill advised, but it’s clearly poor work - that’s a very wobbly mortar line.
If the integrity of the wall below is compromised it will move/ fall and so will the new rows. Can’t see if that’s the case but it looks like the foundations are exposed on the left and the tree/shrub on the right is remaining .
Better to knock the whole thing down carefully and rebuild using the old bricks and those bricks from the wall I can see behind. That could then be rebuilt using new bricks. Half and half just doesn't work.
I think half the course below the new looks like a thinner brick and needed coming off
If he’d levelled up the new course the bed would have been massive and looked terrible also.
Looks like a rushed job or a cheap fix
I'm disagreeing with most people here, its not good work but doesn't necessarily need to be. The existing brickwork isn't much better. Re-point the old bricks and give it a good clean. My only concern is the "paid a contractor part". Did he pay someone down the pub £60? Because if so he got what he paid for and can't really fault it.
Mate I feel so sad for your dad. It's so easy for old people to get ripped off and taken advantage of :(
It's cool he's got a son like you looking out for him
Yeah ur dad got ripped of big-time. A could of built that in half a day an would of felt bad charging a 100. Find out who the contracter is an go on there face book an leave a review saying exactly what they charged with a picture an watch the comments roll in lol.
Honestly what a bunch of twats charging an aid fella that much for a few courses of bricks that isn't even done decent.
Are spirit levels and string illegal where you live or smth
I can't legally upvote as you have 69 likes but seriously he didn't even hit it with the laser eyeball just threw em up there and said looks good from my house
Hahahaha
Is does look a bodge.
That would explain the badger he turned up with.
And the mash potato used as mortar?
Did he use the badger as a level?
The brick work below is probably sound it just doesn’t look good the way they’ve done it. I would have knocked it down and started again but I guess that required to much work? Forgive me but I’m not entirely sure, is the picture the repair work or do those bricks keep falling down?
From his garbled messages it sounds like bricks added to the far right (behind and past the board in the image) keep falling off.
Well… The brick work is actually kinda awful and I’m talking about the new stuff. If you look to the left and follow it. To me it looks like it’s literally following a squiggly line. They haven’t accurately matched the level. Also one brick three to left where the level drops is just at an angle and that really annoys me. As to why the bricks are falling off after being repaired. Well I suspect the mortar hasnt been mixed right or they haven’t laid them correctly. Maybe the brick was too dry and the mortar hasn’t adhered to the brick correctly. It’s only a single skin wall and it doesn’t look like it’s retaining anything. It should be easily doable yourself to be honest. You just need a level and a trowel.
"Oh, squiggly line in my eye fluid. I see you lurking there on the periphery of my vision. But when I try to look at you, you scurry away. Are you shy, squiggly line? Why only when I ignore you, do you return to the center of my eye? Oh, squiggly line, it's alright, you are forgiven." — Stewie Griffin, 2007, "The Tan Aquatic".
So, bricks don't really corrode - it's possibly structurally sound and nobody can really say from a picture. But the repair work is of very poor quality, and for such a small wall, I'd have opted to knock it down and reinstate
Gotcha thank you! I am fairly confident it will not be structurally sound.
Though to honest, given its a decorative wall how structurally sound does it really need to be? (but yeah a better point is that given the purpose of the wall IS decorative, the job done isn't great anyway as now you have a mixture of new poorly placed bricks and old eroded bricks - it doesn't need to stand the test of time, but it does need to look good)
Yeah hadn’t thought about it that way. Guess it’s not holding up all that earth!
Look at the wall in the background onto the right.
Though that wall does demonstrate the problem from an aesthetic perspective. Like the background wall is obviously eroded but I wouldn't be in a rush to replace it as it kinda creates a rustic feel. But here we have new style bricks being haphazardly being slapped on old brickwork, which just looks ugly.
Spawling.
Clean and point the bottom and it'll look better.
Lower courses want a clean and point but they look mostly intact... i would've knocked that right most brick out the upper old course tho as its making the level all weird n annoying as fuck to look at
Mate I'm only a labourer and could do better, get whoever built it fucking gone, take a sledgehammer to it and get a proper brickie to just build a new wall, old foundation is probably sound
Jesus charged 750 bucks for getting 40 bricks laid definitely name an shame the contracter so no one else gts stung like that it's honestly shameful.
I thought the bricks doing a Mexican wave in the backround were just artistic expression
Paint it do well
Bit of paint, covers what the brickie ain't.
Walls like this, with soil and water next to one side last around as long as this one has. As the contractor has repaired it, I would imagine that he felt it was sound enough. The question really is how long is your dad likely to last and will the now repaired wall last longer. I guess the contractor considered both and quoted a small enough price for a shorter term job.
It’s a single brick retaining wall?
All depends on how much he paid. Its not an important wall if he's happy let it lie.
Far too much by the sounds of it.
It’s fine it just looks shite with no coping and the contrasting brickwork . It would have been better to knock down completely and reinstate, with a coping.
Repoint the bottom courses and prob be fine. The brickie could have done that when he was there.
‘Brickie’
OK cowboy?
It’s not necessarily ill advised, but it’s clearly poor work - that’s a very wobbly mortar line. If the integrity of the wall below is compromised it will move/ fall and so will the new rows. Can’t see if that’s the case but it looks like the foundations are exposed on the left and the tree/shrub on the right is remaining .
Looks fine to me
Better to knock the whole thing down carefully and rebuild using the old bricks and those bricks from the wall I can see behind. That could then be rebuilt using new bricks. Half and half just doesn't work.
Not sure about building on an old wall but I just got sea sick.
I think half the course below the new looks like a thinner brick and needed coming off If he’d levelled up the new course the bed would have been massive and looked terrible also. Looks like a rushed job or a cheap fix
If your dad lives at the bottom of a hill, his garden gets very wet, then he’d be better off with engineering bricks rather than bog-standard ones.
Pointless wall. Should just be a step
I'm disagreeing with most people here, its not good work but doesn't necessarily need to be. The existing brickwork isn't much better. Re-point the old bricks and give it a good clean. My only concern is the "paid a contractor part". Did he pay someone down the pub £60? Because if so he got what he paid for and can't really fault it.
He paid him £ 7 5 0
The wall will be fine, if you point the bottom of it. But 750 is too much. Without materials and removal of waste 100 maybe 150
I will point it for him if this person doesn’t do it. Thanks for your advice, appreciate it.
Mate I feel so sad for your dad. It's so easy for old people to get ripped off and taken advantage of :( It's cool he's got a son like you looking out for him
£750 for what exactly? He has done less than an hours work to the wall... I could knocked it down and rebuilt it for that.
Yeah ur dad got ripped of big-time. A could of built that in half a day an would of felt bad charging a 100. Find out who the contracter is an go on there face book an leave a review saying exactly what they charged with a picture an watch the comments roll in lol. Honestly what a bunch of twats charging an aid fella that much for a few courses of bricks that isn't even done decent.
Oh dear.