Another Great Wall Project At "Wistful Vista".

Street view.

Two years ago I discovered a problem with our masonry wall of our garage. I postponed fixing it because I had another wall project on the go last year. You may recall the "railway tie" wall in the back yard that my son Tim and I replaced with dry-stacked masonry. You can CLICK HERE to go back to that wall project.

This wall at the front of the house has started to lean out and pull away from the garage structure. I figure the base or foundation for the free-standing part of the wall must have settled.

The picture above was taken when I noticed the problem in 2104.

You can see that two years later the wall doesn't appear to have moved further but one thing is sure - it won't get any better.

That's not the only problem with this wall. The section of wall on the face of the garage has an area damaged by a vine or a climbing plant that eroded the mortar and must have allowed water to get between the bricks. Winter freezing then exploded the mortar joints in about a three to five foot section.

Before I decided to take more drastic action, I tried to push and pull the wall back using a hydraulic jack and a large, long bolt. I didn't really have to much hope that it would work but I had to try. I was right. It didn't. The very heavy free-standing wall, being unsupported properly, would have to come down and the damaged area on the side of the garage might as well come down too.

All together there is about twelve feet of wall that will have to come down. The free-standing part is four feet high and eight feet long, and the facing on the garage is another four feet.

2009 Chimney re-build by John Egan

This is too big a project for me so I called John Egan. I hired John seven years ago in 2009 to rebuild our chimney, fix the walls at the front steps and re-parge the house foundation where it had let go.These pictures are from seven years ago. John is over seventy years now but that doesn't slow him down. He works almost every day when he isn't golfing and he says "The work keeps me alive."  There's something to be said for good, honest work. He's in terrific shape.

John trained and apprenticed in the "old school" in England and is an expert mason and bricklayer.  Tim and I will do the grunt work and John will work his magic re-constructing the wall

Here's the finished chimney from 7 years ago.

Day 1  - The Prep

I figured part of our problem here stems from water pooling near the foundation. This is caused by a downspout that is not draining properly. My plan is to dig a trench along the foundation, add drain tile (Big O pipe) and gravel and lead the water over to the gentle ravine beside our house. Since there are no neighbours there the water will dissipate naturally into the lawn.

Part of the preparations involve dismantling the electrical fixtures.

Even with the power turned off I always double check with a voltmeter. I've been known to kill the wrong breaker or find an outlet on a different circuit. Better safe than dead.

Day 2 Dismantle The Wall

John stopped by on his way to another job and dropped off a hammer drill which really made the job go a lot easiler than a hammer and chisel.

Tim soon had the knack for separating the mortar from the bricks and things progressed well.

I took each brick he removed and cleaned up an set it in the same pattern on the driveway. Probably a little unnecessary since John is a skilled craftsman but if it helps at all and speeds things up, well - time is money.

I took lots of pictures on John's advice, but he said as long as the picture shows the "look and feel" he can wing it because after all, that's what he does.

It's reassuring and nice when you can take something apart and know you have an expert coming that can put it all back together.

Finally, we get to the foundation and can dig down and see what caused the wall to lean. I'm no expert but it looks like we fortunately have a good concrete footing. The original contractor appears to have placed a thick layer of mortar on top of the concrete instead of a course of bricks.  Water and time cause the mortar to crumble and the wall yielded. Too late for a lawsuit now. Ha ha! Oh well 60 years or so ain't bad.

A little evidence as to the age of our house is stenciled on some of the bricks: R.D. 1955 ANGELSTONE LTD."

Well that's it for today check back tomorrow night for Day 3 of the continuing saga of the great wall of our 50's style, 60 year old bungalow I call Wistful Vista.
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