Masonry Repair for London Basement Conversion

Twistfix were asked to put together a scheme for a structural masonry repair project in Kensington, London in order to tie the walls of a 5 storey outrigger which was found to have no connection to the main structure of the building. Twistfix passed the enquiry to its Registered Contractors in the London area and the Symm Group subsequently appointed Newman Building Solutions of Hammersmith, London as the masonry repair specialist.

As part of the refurbishment project a two storey basement and elevator shaft was going to be constructed and this would involve major piling works and excavations.  Before the basement could be excavated it was important that the outrigger was structurally tied to the main part of the building, not only to prevent the cracked wall from worsening but also to generally strengthen the masonry to provide resilience to further cracking or collapse.  The engineering team decided that Twistfix stitching bars would be essential and would play a vital role in reinforcing the walls within this property refurbishment.

Twistfix crack stitches are stainless steel helical bars that are cold worked in production, This gives the stitching bars double the tensile strength of conventional rebar.  The helical profile of the bars provides excellent grip within the wall to stitch across cracks and to securely tie and reinforce the wall.

Basement excavation is not something which should be taken lightly and should be carried out by a professional to avoid the devastating results that can be left behind when “cowboy builders” are left to excavate a basement.  The problem comes because during excavation they will be digging extremely close to the main structures foundations and thus extreme care must be taken.

For this particular project the Newman Building Solutions  installed 140 metres of our high tensile crack stitches with masonry repair grout and on completion the building had the outrigger securely stitched to the main structure.  All the stitches, which were installed, were around 2m’s long and were drilled back and chemically fixed 150mm into the masonry wall at 20 degree angles.

Steve Newman from NBS London said “We were extremely pleased with the results of the structural reinforcing work on this masonry repair project and now this reinforced and refurbished structure just needs finishing off.  The newly created basement that has been excavated now needs to be waterproofed. Twistfix waterproofing membrane would be ideal for this purpose”.

Twistfix is one of the leading suppliers of a full range of high quality but competitively priced masonry repair products including crack stitches, wall ties and waterproofing membranes.  Our expert team can advise you about exactly which repair product is suitable for your individual project and so if you’re not sure then why not just simply give us a call.

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