BULGING AND LEANING WALLS

This usually involves external walls and is more serious than cracking. Bulging or
leaning is often due to the lowering of the stability of the wall caused by the following
factors:
Vibrations from traffic and machinery.
Increasing the floor loads or building on additional floors.
The original walls being insufficiently thick in relation to the height.
Lack of restraint between the external walls and floor joists, beams and
partitions.

Figure 1 : Bulging due to inadequate thickness and lack of restraint in walls

The type of bulging that normally occurs in older buildings built in lime mortar is
usually due to lack of restraint. It is a well known principle in the construction of brick walls
that some form of restraint should be provided to prevent lateral movement. This is achieved
by building in floor joists or by bonding in partitions at right angles to the wall.
 OVERLOADING

Overloading of structural walls will often result in leaning or bulging as previously

described, particularly if the original load is in the centre of a beam spanning an opening.
Excess loads on floors are often due to changes in the use to which the building is put. This
change of load pattern imposes an inequality of load on the brickwork causing the walls to
show signs of distress. Forming additional openings or enlarging existing openings for doors
and windows in older type buildings will transfer loads to smaller areas of brickwork.This
type of alteration is easily identified when looking at the difference in the age and condition
of the old and fairly recent brickwork.

Excess loads on roofs can also affect brickwork causing bowing or crushing. An
example of overloading is shown in Figure 2 and is caused by faulty design, this is typical of
many Victorian domestic properties where about a quarter of the total loading above ground
level is carried on the timber beams over the bay window producing a deflection in the beam,
and cracked brickwork as shown in the sketch. In dealing with problems of this nature the
surveyor should always rememberthat the science of structures in past centuries was largely
one of trial anderror. When investigating such defects it is quite usual to find that the timber
beam consists of two floor joists bolted at intervals and because of their slenderness they are
readily overloaded. The bearing ends will be embedded into the brickwork with very little
protection against moisture penetration. The bearing ends will require close inspection for
signs of decay which will entail removing some plasterwork so that observation can be made.
Timber may appear to be rotten on the surface, but it is wise to test with a gimlet before
assuming that it is so throughout.Woodworm is also found to be particularly active around the
bearing ends of beams.

A point to be carefully noted when dealing with bay windows is a tendency for the
brickwork to become detached from the main external wall and lean outwards causing
tapering cracks between the bay and the main wall. If the wall has a rendered or pebble dash
finish then only small cracks will appear at the junction. It is, therefore, important to ascertain
the condition of the brickwork behind, which will necessitate cutting away some of the
rendering each side of the crack. This type of movement can often be the result of shallow
foundations which often distort the brickwork around the bay.
Figure 2 : Typical case of overloading in older domestic property where about a quarter of the
total load above ground is carried on the timber beam over the bay window
 FAILURE IN ARCHES AND LINTELS

Settlement cracks usually arise from the inadequacy in size of the abutments causing
the brickwork to thrust outwards as shown in Figure 3 where the opening is too near the
corner of the building. If the surveyor considers the fractures to be serious and requiring
emergency treatment, the first step is to tie the abutments together by using two or three wire
ropes and straining screws connected to timbers through the nearest opening. The arch will
also require support by erecting centring similar to that used in the construction of new
arches. This will relieve the arch of its load and enable the necessary repairs to be carried out.
Alternatively, a raking shore should be erected against the fractured abutment to resist any
further movement. A similar problem can arise from the excessive deflection of a lintel,
causing converging cracks to run upwards as shown in Figure 3.

A simple rule of thumb method can be used by the surveyor for checking the size of
abutments to arches. If the arch is semicircular there should be an abutment on each side equal
to three-quarters of the span of the arch. However, this figure can be reduced to half the span
for pointed arches. For shallower arches the abutments should equal the span of the arch.
Defects of a minor nature often occur in arches in which some Voussoirs have slipped down
their beds. These should be carefully examined, and if the arch has settled and cracked it is
advisable to examine the brickwork above for signs of settlement and to trace the cause. The
brickwork may have been subjected to heavy roof or floor loads in excess of its capabilities.
Many failures have occurred in arches where the expansion of long lengths of wall on either
side of openings is restricted causing the arch to lift. This defect is usually found in older
types of commercial or industrial properties where expansion joints have been omitted.

Many openings in domestic structures built before 1900 were constructed withtimber
lintels at the rear of the brick arch. The surveyor will no doubt find some difficulty in trying to
diagnose the problems in lintels which are hidden. Defection in the lintel and cracked plaster
around the bearing ends are invariably due to defective timber which has probably been
attacked by woodworm or wet rot. The external arch is often only 119 mm thick and as such it
is liable to decay through moisture penetration.
Figure 3 : Damage to abutments due to inadequacy of the pier
 FAILURES IN BONDING AND DEFECTS AT JUNCTIONS

The inspection of the external brickwork should follow a set pattern, starting at the highest
point of the building and working down to ground level. Brick walls depend on good bonding
for their strength particularly at junctions. Poor bonding or fracturing at junctions is a general
source of weakness. It is most common in older domestic buildings where fractures have
occurred between external and party walls. Examination often shows that the fractures are due
to poor bonding or movement of the external walls as previously described in Section 6.2.
When carrying out an inspection of an old wall the surveyor must look back to the bricklaying
practices of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. What often happened in the past is that
external walls were built of two separate skins consisting of an outer facing of 114 mm thick
brick and an inner loadbearing skin of 228 mm thickness which often consisted of underburnt
or broken bricks. The outer skin was tied to the inner skin only infrequently but to give the
right appearanceon the face of having been properly bonded, snapped headers would be
used to save cost. Over the years structural changes due to the thermal and moisture
movement can often cause the outer skin to pull away from the inner skin. Bulging will occur
between openings and gaps will open between window and door frames and soffits of arches.
This defect will not necessarily be apparent on the inside face of the wall.

Figure 4 : Surface decay of brickwork due to crystallisation of salts