Small wall fix, masonry glue or no?

Scam

Scam

Scam

Soldato
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Ok steady on... the non-DIYers are back :o

Our lovely front wall has cracked unfortunately after about a year, well one of the columns has. FYI the top bracket for the railings is embedded into the second row of bricks, so as you look at the top picture the uppermost-left brick actually comes right off now. But the 3 bricks on the right although clearly detached, can't go anywhere because of the railing bracket.

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What would you do? A bit of masonry glue? :confused: You can actually see daylight through it at the right angle and so it doesn't look great...
 
Remove the loose brick entirely, then unbolt the railing from the bracket and then remove the right hand section.

Remove all the old mortar, and completely re-lay the two top courses of brick with new mortar (it's only 5 bricks - you can't get it *that* wrong)
 
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don't use a masonry adhesive - it will look daft. you'll have the thick mortar lines of the rest of the wall mixed in with thin adhesive lines. as armageus says - remove the loose bricks and railing and re-lay the bricks on a bed of mortar.
 
Armageus said:
Remove the loose brick entirely
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I can do this part.
Armageus said:
then unbolt the railing from the bracket and then remove the right hand section.

Remove all the old mortar, and completely re-lay the two top courses of brick with new mortar (it's only 5 bricks - you can't get it *that* wrong)
Click to expand...
... But none of this :D The railing is locked in pretty snugly, a bit like this and I wouldn't know where the start for removing the mortar. Pretty sure I'd knacker the railings trying to get them off, or wouldnt be able to get them back on properly :o

Shame the dude who did the front and back gardens is unresponsive, he did a great thorough job besides this bit..
 
Scam said:
... But none of this :D The railing is locked in pretty snugly, a bit like this
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It should just be 2 bolts to undo at each end (the bits arrowed below)? spanner on the nut and then turn the bolt with a ratchet handle and socket

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Scam said:
and I wouldn't know where the start for removing the mortar.
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Hammer and Chisel
 
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Scam said:
I can do this part.

... But none of this :D The railing is locked in pretty snugly, a bit like this and I wouldn't know where the start for removing the mortar. Pretty sure I'd knacker the railings trying to get them off, or wouldnt be able to get them back on properly :o

Shame the dude who did the front and back gardens is unresponsive, he did a great thorough job besides this bit..
Click to expand...
railing is held in place with bolts attaching it to support arms that will most likely be buried in the mortar of the corresponding brick course. again, as armageus says, unbolt those - they might be tight as the paint will act almost like an adhesive - but a bit of brute force and ignorance should see them come off.
chipping the old mortar off is easy, and mixing a bucket of mortar to re-lay the bricks is equally easy.
 
@Scam - i should also add, if you do end up just using some sort of masonry grab adhesive to fill the joints you'll be back in the same position again in the not too distant future. those type of adhesives usually require a clean dust free surface to work properly. you won't be able to provide that dust free surface as you'll just be blindly pumping adhesive into the gap.
 
Armageus said:
It should just be 2 bolts to undo at each end (the bits arrowed below)? spanner on the nut and then turn the bolt with a ratchet handle and socket
Click to expand...
Actually fair point. I admit I hadn't looked at how the railings were fitted properly yet. If I undo both bolts at one end, and loosen the ones a little at the other then I could potentially swing the railing out of the way?

Still not sure how neatly I could match his mortar though. Not ideal doing your first bit of brick laying on the most visible part of the house that we're so proud of looking neat and tidy!
 
Scam said:
Still not sure how neatly I could match his mortar though.
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it'll be easy - you're only doing a few bricks. it's not like you're trying to run a long course of bricks and keep it all level. plop a load of mortar on, set the brick on, tap it down with butt of trowel, check with a level, scrape off excess mortar and and move to next brick. half hour job - and this from someone who's only ever laid maybe a dozen or so blocks for a small retaining wall.
 
Scam said:
Still not sure how neatly I could match his mortar though. Not ideal doing your first bit of brick laying on the most visible part of the house that we're so proud of looking neat and tidy!
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Matching sand colour is the issue which is why I was asking about if looks is your only main issue
If so you can try (you wont lose anything by trying it) using the silicon and dust approach.
(Basically you use brick dust or mortar dust depending what your matching, on top of silicon which you force into the gap)

People often do this when filling a drill hole or something as it creates a close match.

Tip when doing anything, or having work done, is try to keep some sand so it matches.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Matching sand colour is the issue which is why I was asking about if looks is your only main issue
If so you can try (you wont lose anything by trying it) using the silicon and dust approach.
(Basically you use brick dust or mortar dust depending what your matching, on top of silicon which you force into the gap)

People often do this when filling a drill hole or something as it creates a close match.

Tip when doing anything, or having work done, is try to keep some sand so it matches.
Click to expand...
i'm pretty sure you shouldn't use silicon and dust for repairing a joint in brickwork. it's usually only used to fill holes/small gaps etc afaik - the strength properties of silicon wont be sufficient to stop the brick joint opening again.
 
normally as said relay them, but as a possible temp fix dont screwfix do a structural adhesive to pump it i seem to remember using some to repair cracks in a concrete path and side lintel last year, came in kit form with gun and tube. you make sure no loose stuff and then pump it in and as it sets smooth it off or dust with sand as said.
ideally i think it would only be a temp fix for the post.
have you tried asking on local facebook groups, i know you can get some idiots but maybe a retired bricky or even a trainee would do it for a few quid.
daughters neighbour nocked her stone gate post down and she got a semi retired builder off facebook to rebuild it , took him 3 days completley cleaning all the bricks and relaying them, about 2 foot square nearly 5 foot tall with a monstrosity of a concrete ball on top 300 quid all in .

https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-504-concrete-repair-grey-300ml/727gc similar to this but sure mine was a resin type
maybe better
 
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