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Much the same principles
apply to brickwork repair and restoration as to stone. Once beautiful
walls and chimney stacks have been badly damaged by ill advised
or crude attempts at repair, the character and value of the building
can be seriously affected. Old bricks can be closely matched using
carefully chosen new hand made bricks or second hand bricks, but
exact replacement is impossible as the source of the original clay,
methods of manufacture, weathering characteristics, ageing and ‘pleasing
decay’ cannot be reproduced. Existing bricks should be salvaged
and reused where possible.
Damaged or spalled bricks are carefully removed to prevent damage
to surrounding bricks. By using a fine, sharp chisel surrounding
joints can be cut out and raked back before removing the failed
brick, then restored forward with specialist repair mortars. Replacement
bricks must ‘match’ in every respect – size, strength,
colour, texture and if possible, degree of weathering. Close attention
to maintaining bond, using lime based mortar and matching pointing
profile is essential.
Mortar (‘plastic’) repair to spalled brickwork should
be avoided. It should only be considered in exceptional circumstances
and in small areas of individual bricks. Brick dust is best used
to colour the mortar as artificial colouring agents are likely to
fade. Large bulges, large cracks or fractures would be investigated
to find their cause and intervention would be the minimum necessary
to retain the wall or chimney stack in a safe and sound condition.
We ensure that the work we do is primarily of high quality, professional
and cost effective. Contact us NOW on 0808 100 3777 to discuss how
we can help you.
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