Is This Brick Wall Safe?

I would think a good shoulder charge would knock it down...
Ref, it was a fair challenge, shoulder to shoulder...he dived...it was never a penalty.
Del

Please Check a few things -

1) Is a sill been casted at sill level

2) Is the wall being supported by beam on top

3) Is the wall been restrained on sides

If not then it is totally unsafe to keep the wall as it is going to fall even with a push or bang. I would suggest to either dismantle and reconstruct the wall restraining it on all the 3 sides with sill at sill level (i.e. 1meter). Secondly for the sink part you can construct pillars of reqd size to sustain the same.

Thanks Babybear.

I just got an extract from the BS 5628: CP for design and use of masonry, which states a freestanding wall should not exceed 12t in height, where t is the effective thickness. Think this should answer my initial question.

Thanks again to you and all the other responders (though some may be more constructive than others)

Hello ricgoh,

I just got an extract from the BS 5628: CP for design and use of masonry, which states a freestanding wall should not exceed 12t in height, where >>> t <<<is the effective thickness............

=

Thanks again to you and all the other responders (though some may be more constructive than others.............

What is the word which is 'missing' where only the 't' was typed, between the arrows?

Perhaps "constructive" is the wrong word to use under the circumstances?.... ;=)

>>>t<<< the t refers back to the 12t in "should not exceed 12t in height"

In other words if a wall is 4" thick it should not be more than 4' high:

12*(4/12)

Hello Randall,

In other words if a wall is 4" thick it should not be more than 4' high: 12*(4/12

=

I have never heard of this before. But does that mean that a 6" thick wall can be no higher than 6'?

Hi bb,

For a freestanding wall of 4" thickness, 6' sounds overly high to me. Still, following from ricgoh, you can read more about the 12t aspect here (about half way down the link, Part 1 - slenderness limits). 12t can't be taken as a single rule that applies to each and every wall - depends on length, wind loading, ground pressure, and a whole bunch of other stuff. If I lived in some places, I'd be checking The Subsidence Engineers Handbook - darned coal mines ! If my neighbour built a 6' wall using toothpaste for mortar I wouldn't be happy (though this being England, we'd spend ages arguing about who owned the boundary )!

Hi Kris,

How are you?

I have over 50 emails, when the whole of last week I got 20! I will be here for hours sorting this out so, have saved your notification which links to your post. I can come back to these types of posts and the long ones later.

Thanks for the site link you sent.

Know what you mean about the arguing about the boundary thing!

Take care...........

I don't know anything about this subject I was just quoting back and interpreting the "rule of thumb".

And good for you ! It'd be an awful quiet place if we all sat back waiting for somebody who knew everything. Input from all quarters helps to raise issues that might not otherwise be covered. That's why CR4 is better than all the dry technical sites out there - we have discussion and interpretation.

This reminds me of a recent quote I read (Tony Benn of all people); 'With so many people learning and discovering new things all the time, I go to bed knowing comparatively less than when I woke up'. We are all learning to some degree or other.

Bravo on your candour. I just take it as said that people will guess I know diddly-squat about anything I comment upon ! A sensible reader will check and verify any information they get, no matter who it's from or on what topic.

Hi Randall,

No problem my friend. The stuff you send in your post 't' etc, is going to lead to me (and others) learning some new stuff? It is a term I have not heard before, that's all.

Please continue sending your interesting post OK?

"Is the wall safe" !!

It's not the wall I'm worried about, it's anyone standing nearby when it falls on them.

It is difficult to imagine the reason for such a wall in the first place and I am surprised the wall has not fallen over already.

If the wash basins are heavy duty floor-standing then they might give support to the wall.

But if hung on the wall, on the wall dioes not fall over while you are cutting and drilling it for pipes and fixings, then they might later pull it over - onto the person(s) standing there - especially if someone puts additional weight on the basins (washing their feet).

In any case will it matter if it falls over - just a petty nuisance - or a serious claim for damages - which if arising you will be defenceless because you have put on record that you suspect the wall could be unsafe.

Good luck

No from what you have give it is very unsafe. Are there kids in the area as they will play and push on the wall if they think it moves

RICQOH WROTE: "It is also not restrained in any direction. . . . "

How do you know this?

It is a common practice for wood framed buildings to have non load bearing brickwork as a decorative outer layer. Typically the wood face is built with metal strips secured in place with fasteners. When the masons lay down the brickwork, those strips are bent out at an angle, and mortared onto the top face of each row of bricks purposefully to hold the masonry securely to the building.

Because these strips are cut just short of the brick's width, their presence is hidden from sight, especially after the brickwork is pointed with mortar. This standard method of treatment could be there without your knowledge.

To be certain, you need to get a metal detector and scan the vertical wall over it's entire surface, marking each alarmed spot with a non-permanent, visible marker. If the brickwork is secured, and I suspect it is, a regular pattern of metal attachments will become readily apparent.

By the way, it MUST be a metal detector. stud detectors designed for "looking" through wall board are not as sensitive.

Wash basins, with their own pedestals, are standard fare. Given the alternative, there really is no need to attach any sink to any wall, regardless of its construction. It might however, prove advisable to anchor the sink pedestals to the cement ground slab you spoke of, which makes the entire issue moot.

Please let us know

L.J.

great a ,

the house i grew up in, was built in 1906. the garden wall was brick on a concrete footing , rebar had been placed thru holes in the brick, giving it a vertical presence. from maybe the 3rd tier down, anyway,...to my joy when tasked to remove it , to widen the drive way...

i did just make the assumption that the lady , our neighbor , who had lived there since her house , then our house were the 1st two on the block., never spoke of that wall being fixed. she had gas outlets on her walls for light fixtures. 64 ~ 68 , no tv, listened to the radio, and read. power was installed in `28. some might remember the two button push type , spst , switch. and a complete recall of the neighborhood's growth. made the best fudge, after every project, uhmm..cast iron stove, oven , the " ice box " was still installed . the refridge was free standing, by the (1 ) plug in the kitchen.

ah,

wonder if the times of the 40's & 50's in the US : could this be the event horizon for many 3rd world nations ?

still, great answer, make the issue mute:..

Hey all,

Thanks for all your replies and inputs. To answer some of you, the reason I know the wall was not restrained in any direction is because it had collapsed and I found no anhchors or bonding strips anywhere in its structure that connected it to any permanent structure. It was not connected to any column or stiffener at its sides or beams at its top. It was simply seated on the floor slab, bonded by cement mortar.

I am not a professional engineer, but it is my opinion that this wall, even if it was not loaded, was not constructed safely. However, I would like to have concrete supporting evidence that the wall was not constructed safely, hence, I was wondering whether there was any calculation, building code or engineering literature that are relevant.

Thanks again!

the reason I know the wall was not restrained in any direction is because it had collapsed.

AAARGGHH.
Well, why were you asking if it is safe, when it self evividently isn't???

I have a similar question that maybe you can help me with.
If I slip with a big fat wood rasp and it makes contact with my thumb will it leave a row of parallell lacerations which will sting like hell?
Del

No Del - it won't.

That's because cats don't have thumbs, as any fewl noes

I just noticed you live in Singapore.

That changes everything!

Building codes? WHAT building codes?!

L.J.

Speaking from experience ye bowyer cat? Sounds like KrisDel needs to produce a new safety training video...

Hello ricqoh,

I assume you mean part of another bit of a similar wall fell over?

If by all accounts and by the law of the land (if you live in England UK) the wall is too high for its thickness. Lean on it and if it falls over it can stay like that! As you would have proved beyond a doubt it IS unsafe.

wow,

let me see , ) 2 possible scenario's:

in the 44 hours between the op and the annoucenment : the wall collapsed.

) the wall had collapsed prior to your initial question.

please be so kind as to verify our curiosity ?