Working on a 100 + year old house. On an interior basement wall that supports the first floor, floor joists, 2nd floor floor joists, 2nd floor ceiling. Was going to put a steel 4 x 4 by 3/8 thick angle iron in the basement to better support the floor joists where a plate spanned a doorway.
The problem was, as I dug around the mortar joints of the brick wall I found that the mortar is shot. I could easily break out a few bricks and tear down the wall with a claw hammer. The wall is still level and plumb. No sags above. But some sand is falling to the floor from the mortar joints.
What do you suggest would be the best choice?
I consider:
Building a temporary support under each side of the brick wall supporting the floor joists, back about 4 feet to leave room to work, and then tear down the brick wall and rebuild it.
Build a studded wall on each side of the old bricks and just leave the brick wall intact.
Lay a 4 inch block wall next to the bricks on each side, sandwiching the old wall inside.
My bias is to a choice that leaves the old bricks intact. To tear the old wall out completely with 2 floors and a floored attic above could be risky.
Richard
Replies
Hi Richard.
This is the kind of question that nobody really wants to answer. The reason being is that we can't actually see your problem firsthand and doing the wrong thing or giving bad advice could cause you to literally bring the house down upon you.
You mentioned that the wall was supporting both first and second floors and ceiling joists, but failed to include the roof. I suspect that if the wall is carrying the load from your main floors, then it also must be carrying some of the roof load as well.
The best answer I can give you is to contact your local Building Inspections Dept. or seek out the advice of a building engineer. They will be able to actually see your problem and actually figure out just how much weight your wall needs to safely carry. They could then give you sound recommendations on how to correct your problem.
Davo
Edited 12/6/2002 1:16:40 AM ET by Davo
Richard,
Davo has good advice.
However, if you build block walls either side sandwiching the brick, you are not altering the brick at all, as long as you transfer some of the load from above to the new block by means of light jacking of the carrying member prior to building the block. You may need to provide new strip footings under the existing slab for the new block.
To Richard,
Would'nt recommend tearing the wall down. In the town where I live, there are a lot of 100+ year old homes that were built mostly on a pile of sandstone blocks. Over time the sand and mortar would start to turn to powder. My fathers solution was to brush or vacuum the loose material out of the blocks, and cover the stone with a mortar and sand mix and apply as you would a stucco finish on an exterior wall. Depending on the type of stone or block and the overall condition ( smooth face or uneven) he would cover the surface with a latex additive to give the wall bonding strenghth. If uneven, he would cover the wall with junior mesh and do several coats of the mortar mix. Before the mortar set, he would level off the wall with a beveled edge strike off. The mix he uses is a 3:1 ratio of masons sand and mortar mix applied with common masons tools. He's also been known to rub the stucco with a rubber float to give it a fuzz finish.