Hi All, Been a 'consumer' of these forums for a while but have only just now needed to post a question. I recently took the architraves off the downstairs living room door, and some of the plaster (which, it turns out, wasn't just blown - it was 'hanging' in place) next to the door and in the corner of the room came off. After prying some of the plaster off, it appears that about a meter length of vertical brickwork immediately next to the door has come away from the return wall. The brickwork is loose, and actually rests on the joists. The joists look relatively new so I assume have been replaced at some point - my suspicion is that when they replaced the joist, they disturbed the brickwork after whic they just replaced the bricks and replastered. Please see the attached pics. As I don't even know what trade to contact to sort this out, my questions is - how would this be remedied? Would a bricklayer be able to repair this? Or does it need to be a general builder? Or handyman? Or chippie? Any guidance / advice would be appreciated!
Ok, does the brickwork continue through into the upstairs, by this I mean is there a wall above the door upstairs.
Good question. I'm not at home to double check at the moment, but from memory: The wall immediately above this door (still in the room downstairs) is brickwork. Moving upwards, directly above that is the another door. I'm fairly certain the two doors are in line vertically. With regards to the small length of wall where the bricks have come away / are loose - it is brickwork that continues all the way upstairs up to the roof / upstairs ceiling.
That what I was worried about, if it terminated at the ceiling, you could have removed it and filled the gap with stud work. As it is you will need a brick layer to come in a support the upper floor of brickwork with a strongboy and then take down the damaged brickwork and rebuild it, making sure it is built around that joist properly.
Hi Mr Tan, that is what I would call a real mess. Follow Phil's advice and get a brickie in to sort it out. I would however be curious to know what had led to this situation. Was it a bodged job by a previous owner? Was the door too heavy and therefore has pulled the lining away and shaken the masonary loose? I must say the door looks like any 15 pane internal door. Have you got a door slammer in the family? Mind you they would need the strength of Shrek and the intelligence of Donkey. Good luck with the repair.
Ti-Chia, does that door open and close ok? If yes, then - sheeesh - I'd just brush it all down well to get rid of the dust, remove the timber wedges (there to take nails from the archi), mix up a small batch of mortar, thoroughly wet the bricks and gaps there, stuff every gap with with the mortar, scrape it level using the door frame as a guide, apply a think skim of plaster afterwards to give it all a neat finish, and glue on some new architrave - with some panel pins into the door frame. Not saying it's right, but just what I'd do. Cost - one bag ready-mix, brick-laying mortar. And the bludy house would not fall down...
Thanks for the advice Phil - that's clarified what I need to get done! I'll get a brickie to come in and have a look. I've only just moved in and was/am doing up the living room when I came across this problem, so it was a previous owner bodge. The door is a normal door and the door frame is square so I don't think it was caused by the door (or slamming of it) either. However, you will note from the pics that I've taken the floor up. The joists look pretty new (for a 1930s house) so must have been replaced recently, whilst the plaster in the area was sound (not even a crack) when I started breaking it off. I suspect that when they removed the old joist, they disturbed the brickwork above it. Then, rather than fix it at the time, they just patch plastered the area (in fact it looks like there's a top layer of white polyfilla in that area so could be a diy jobbie). That's what I think anyway! Depending on what the repair costs, I may have to go down this route! But don't tell Phil the Paver! (just kidding)
It's not and if it wasn't a doorway, I'd probably do as you said, but being a doorway it wouldn't be strong enough to hold and probably crack and fall out again.
Yeah, prob . But - hey - that's what architrave is for - hiding all the cracked bits... (Gulp - I hope the lintel above that door goes well into the wall on the right...)
LOL a 6" architrave will do it. Good point about the lintel, I bet it doesn't go into the wall and just sits on the brickwork, even more of a reason for doing a proper job.
Ti-Chi, your house is gonna fall down... Come back on here when you've had a couple of brickies/ builders out to have a look. Listen carefully to what they say - do they check for a lintel above the door, and where it's fixed to? (Does the end of any lintel just sit on top of those loose bricks, or go into the return wall on the right?) How much sucking of air through teeth do they do - that kind of stuff...
Cheers guys. Good point about the lintel. With any luck the lintel may extend across where the wall is sound / in good condition - will have to investigate further. I've got a call out with a couple of brickies so will keep you guys updated in due couse. Thanks again for the advice!
So anyway for anyone that's interested, I've had the wall fixed. Got a brickie round and after poking around, he concurred that the brickwork was probably disturbed when the joist was replaced. He opened up the plaster (both sides) and the crack ran up to right about the same level as the top of the door. He was initially going to use wall starters to rebuild the wall, but since the brickwork on 'sound' side of the wall wasn't flat, he couldn't attach wall starters so ended up rebuilding that section from scratch. Pics attached for reference: Thanks again for the advice!
It's all gonna come crashing doon aroon' yer ears, I tell ya... Thanks for coming back - definitely one of those "I wonder what's happening..." threads Happy new hoosie