# Falling brick walls...



## L&Jfarms (Jul 16, 2008)

So my brother and i may be buying a property that had been in our family for 80 years and then sold off in the later 70's. The old homestead has a few out buildings on it in okay condition but the old house needs some serious help! The roof a few years ago fell in taking out the 2nd and 1st floor. :grit:The foundation seems sound but the wall on one side of the house has brick that is falling off of the outside layer... I am wondering how much it may cost to fix brick walls and if this is even a smart thing to be doing... lol I would love to buy the place and fix it up (pay as i go) and live in it. What do you think?


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Is it a brick house meaning the walls are built entirely of bricks with the floor beams fitted into pockets into the brick or does it have a wood frame with brick veneer? If it's a truly brick house find an experienced masonry contractor to look at it.


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## T-Bone 369 (Jan 18, 2007)

We've worked on buildings with this over the years and frankly it's going to be very costly. Once brick starts to come off like this you have to tear is down to a solid base then start back up. There is no quick patch that is going to hold. It sounds from your discription that what you have is only a shell - no roof or floors just walls. You have had many years of water getting into old walls which will cause them to fail, especially in climates with freezeing and thawing. Your looking at brick that are 90+ years old - many of the brick made back then are "soft" by modern standards (meaning they soak up water quite easily). The mortar they used back then was quite often of lower quality (many times just lime and sand). I assume the foundation is also brick - it may look good but when you get to repairing the walls it may well be in worse condition than you think. You already have to replace the roof and rebuild the floors. Count on replacing all the wiring, plumbing, HVAC, cabinets and fixtures, interior walls, windows, plaster and on and on. I understand that this was a family property and has sentimental value but from a cost standpoint it's going to be cheaper to knock it down and build new. If you are wanting to preserve how the place looked, get measurements and pictures, draw up a set of prints of it and start again. You can get a house that has the looks of the old house but is upgraded to modern standards. Without seeing it that's my best advice considering how you described the place. I hate to see classic houses come down but sometimes they are just too far gone to save. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.


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## lonelytree (Feb 28, 2008)

Get a big excavator. Find the third point of a triangle with the first 2 corners being the well and septic. Dig a big hole. Use excavator to put old house in hole. Build a new one. Better, safer, design your own.


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## lexa (Mar 30, 2012)

Sound like too much work, I would however keep the bricks for pavings or sell them for the same purpose.


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