Brick Repairs to Listed Buildings

Central London houses some of the most desirable addresses in the UK and is home to several listed buildings.  Many of these old buildings require a program of regular maintenance or refurbishment in order to keep them in pristine condition. One of the main areas of concern is the maintenance and integrity of aging masonry facades; after all how do you design a scheme offering brick repairs to listed buildings in a manner sufficiently discreet to leave the walls looking untouched?

Twistfix registered contractor and structural repair expert, Newman Building Solutions explains the strategy and techniques utilised to provide Total Wall Care to London's aging brick facades. "We take a holistic approach to building maintenance." says Mr Steve Newman, "Firstly we like to ensure walls are structurally secure by reinforcing cracked or weakened areas of brickwork, tying delaminating brick layers and pinning separating facades to cross walls and floor diaphragms.  Next we look at protecting the brickwork from damp and frost damage before making good drill holes, chases, cracks and frost damaged brickwork and stonework with materials that match those of the listed structure.. For this we need to select specialised building products that are designed to offer maximum performance with the least visual impact.  Thats why we chose to buy from Twistfix; they provide many masonry repair products and all of the best quality available".

Twistfix helical bars and remedial wall ties are designed to reinforce existing brick block and stone walls. The high tensile brick reinforcing bars are concealed discretely beneath the surface of the wall in the mortar bed where they strengthen the structure and redistribute applied loads. Helical wall ties are used to tie separating layers of wall, pin brick arches and to secure the facade to internal cross walls.  They are installed into the tiniest of pilot holes; making structural repairs to listed buildings easy to disguise.

Crack Seal Resin seals and waterproofs hairline cracks down to just 2mm wide. A selection of silicone based water repellents are applied to the surface of the brickwork to prevent moisture penetration and the resulting frost damage that disfigures so many walls.  Silicone pore-liners such as facade creams and water repellent sprays are ideal for waterproofing the facades of listed buildings; they soak into the masonry to prevent the transmission of water whilst allowing the old walls to breathe and water vapour to escape.

On a recent project in Central London, Newman's used 50L of diluted masonry biocide to safeguard against moss growth on the brick and slate facade of a Grade 2 listed building, 180M of helical bars to stitch and strengthen areas of cracked masonry and 12L of silicone based water repellent facade cream to waterproof the porous old brick walls, protecting them from penetrating damp and frost damage. Twistfix facade restoration products are rapid, safe and efficient to use, ensuring the renovation of masonry facades can be undertaken in a timely and cost effective manner

Twistfix products are used on a diverse range of projects from brick repairs to listed buildings to remediation of much newer structures with damp or structural defects. For more information on our comprehensive range of masonry crack repair and waterproofing products, please contact our expert team on 0845 123 6006 or email sales@twistfix.co.uk.