Should I Be The One Who Pays To Put This Right?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- A garden wall I built 4 years ago is crumbling, but should I be the one who foots the bill? Is it really my fault?
The music in this video is a track called Last Summer by Iksonmusic
Watch part two here:
• PART 2! What exactly D...
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #30 ДВА В ОДНОМ [Один человек]• Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nrXy15orKhY/mqdefault.jpg)
Oh man. Finally. A video of a tradesman broadcasting their error and publicly admitting their mistakes - the most rewarding and refreshing dividend you will ever earn yourself and viewers. We are all human and make mistakes but it’s just so captivating when someone is honest and upfront. Good on you sir!
Thank you mate! That's a great comment to receive. All the best, pal.
@@Mr_A_Builders Were the bricks soaked before you laid them?
So long as you can figure out what went wrong and are prepared to fix it
Just asking out of curiosity how long is your warranty on this supposed
Hear, hear. Beat me to it.
This is the best advertisement you could ever do sir. Shows your integrity, pride in your work and your high level of customer service. Great to watch and see a high quality tradesman
Shows he don't use cement in the build.
Not good advertising
You really are living up to your first name there, pal.
@@dimzan235 Did you even watch the video mate? 4 years with no cement, the garden would have been just a pile of sand and bricks.
He's called 'Dim' for a reason, Jay!
@@Mr_A_Builders nice retort, but don't get dragged into with a troll, always a waste of time.
I really respect the fact that he will make it right instead of forcing the home owners to take it to court. Very nice to see this!
he'd lose in court anyway. As a bricklayer he should've been able to assess which brick to use in the first place based on the water coming through the wall and the height difference
@@TheJorjj ye lol it's obviously his fault. How the fucks the home owner supposed to know you're doing a shit job lmao.
Chill Chick Boy, you'll scramble your eggs at this rate.
This happened to me a few years ago. This is where sulphates in the bricks or the soil attack the mortar. It only occurs when a wall get soaking wet, IE retaining or parapet walls. You need to use sulphate resisting cement, this will resolve the issue. If you Google sulphate attack you will be able find out the correct term for this .
Oh really?! That's interesting mate, appreciate that. I'll look that up. Did it end up being costly for you?
@@Mr_A_Builders Yes, like you I had to rebuild the wall mostly at my expense, the customer as a sign of good will made a contribution. I built my retaining wall with concrete blocks, faced with bricks. The sulphates in the bricks when wet attacked the mortar, the mortar in the blockwork was fine.
@@Mr_A_Builders Look up sulphate attack on mortars in BDA guide to successful brickwork
Very good point makes me wonder weather the use of weedkiller/biocide has had any contribution, many of them contain sulphates
Dog pee does this too 🤷♂️
This video just popped up on my feed and I have to say your integrity alone for returning to the problem after 4 years speaks volumes. It shows you are of high calibre and clearly care about your reputation as a professional.
In terms of who should pay ? That's a tough one. People go to builders and tradesmen for their knowledge, skills and abilities and assume that covers all aspects of the work required including in this case, retaining walls withstanding the pressures of land and water given the steep slope. I would say it has to be on the builder.
The client may be worried that if the retaining wall has failed after 4 years, could there be problems with the extension ?
You've returned to the problem, identified the problem and now have to come up with a solution to avoid this happening again.
If I were the client, I would be prepared to pay towards the cost of new materials purely off the back of actually returning to rectify the problem. I would also be very happy to tell anyone who would listen about what a great builder I had who was more than happy to return to resolve a problem 👍
I wish you well and hope there is a healthy outcome for all parties involved. Obviously you're not making profit off this job just now, but their friends who were thinking about doing work will almost certainly be thinking of calling you up after this so see it as a win !
Morning Chris, really appreciate your comment. They paid for a job that should last, and it didn't because of my mistakes so I'll rebuild it. Thanks again mate, have a great day.
Credit to you for not just going back and fixing this FOC, (as you should), but also for posting a video about it too. I would honestly be FAR more likely to have you do work for you based on how you handled this, (even admitting that you just don't know what happened), than I would be by posting something with a positive spin. You learn far more about people when things go wrong than you do when things go well.
I have no idea how the algorithm lead me here, but having experienced some of the worst of contractors here in the states, your decision to rectify the issue and at your own expense says a lot about the quality of your character, and I imagine down the line the benefit to your reputation will end up paying for itself. Cheers!
Thank you!
Exactly
Getting 8000000views on UA-cam is softening the pain though
Maybe that's why 🤦 because you have something to do with contracting
@@BCM5 I've never actually looked up any videos on it, but god knows how much Google has on all of us, lol.
Massive props to you for having the integrity to turn up and rectify it. Customer won’t care going forward that it happened, they’ll just remember how you came back and sorted it without issues!
Seeing stuff like this would make me want to use your company, as you stand by your work. Too many clear off and don’t care what happens weeks down the line let alone years.
Thank you Dave, that means a lot mate.
You are literally one in a million.
All builders should watch this video and see integrity and honesty in action..
Absolutely phenomenal
Character..
Need more lads like yourself in our trade and more honest videos like this! Everyone goes through something similar at some point in their career. It’s all part of learning and going forward. Times like these there’s no need arguing with the client about who pays. If you stay honest and put the job right, you never know where it could lead you in the future. You never know they might want a porch or something else building. Well done mate and keep it up!!
Need more lads that don’t know what they’re doing 👍🏻
@@martinkeaveney3912lmao cmon man
I’ve seen this in garden walls before, my old bricky said it’s sulfate attack, sulfate is found in soil, rocks, and if it’s constantly wet it literally eats the cement away, but it’s when it dries out it then has the affect, the only way the bricky sorted it was dig it all out tank the back of the retaining wall, weep vents and then rebuild.
Your a good man for going back to fix it.
you can buy sulphate resistant cement
And he can also place a plastic barrier behind the wall as anyone building a retaining wall should to protect from moisture
ya looks like he was missing weepers.... definetly aint right if thats the case
Big respect for actually putting this up! This is the first time watching you and I appreciate the honesty.
Thank you Joseph, that means a lot mate. Hope you're well.
Except he starts the video whinging about who pays.
Hello Liofa, hope you're well. Sorry that I came across as "whinging", that certainly wasn't my intention. Have a great day.
@@Mr_A_Builders feel free to av a little whine I would certainly too not many would even repair as it's kinda middle ground should be sorta 50/50 on these things as the builder isn't an engineer or a site surveyor most builders build brick on a house that has planning these garden walls should be dry stone water can go where ever it wants then without bother
Actions speak loader than words. I think he just said that out of sheer frustration. Stay blessed
Your a good man. I’m a chartered engineer and I totally respect people like you who do the right thing. Happy Christmas and prosperous new year
"You're a good man" you mean, being an educated man I thought you'd have a decent grasp of basic English..😮
@@simonspiderthey don’t teach English in engineering degrees
@@samhill9487 I cannot believe you said that! You would need at least and English and Maths GCSEs to get into University as a minimum. I suppose the appalling standard of education since Blair and the Labour party ruined it in the 90s is to blame, people are more stupid coming out of schools these day than when they went in!
@@simonspidercalm down big man. Are people still correct grammatical errors on UA-cam? Are you a 14 year old send from 2005? You’re not original my friend
@@simonspider You have SEVERE mental issues. What the hell is your problem? Are you autistic or something? You are so disrespectful. I PRAY you treat people like this in public and i hope we cross paths one day.
People like you are few and far between. Impeccable integrity and a strong and honest work ethic. This is possibly the best advert for your business.
Thank you, Richard. Hope you're well, mate.
The customer wouldn't have known to use engineering bricks originally, so that only leaves the builder I'm sorry to say. Perhaps try to sell them on the rustic charms of sleepers. Respect to you for having the balls to post this video.👍👍
I really admire that you’ve straight off the bat explained the situation and made an effort to put it right, and put the video on UA-cam. It’s clear that you’re an honest guy who is willing to try and find a solution. Obviously not an ideal situation for you or the customer but it takes balls to address it the way you did. This is the first video of yours that I’ve watched but I’ve now subscribed and look forward to seeing your videos as they come out. All the best 👍
Couldn’t agree more, feel sorry for the guy
@@jonathanmacneil4359 it’s tough to see, being self employed myself I’m thankful that these things have been very rare for me personally, but of course things like this happen at times. Just have to take it on the chin and deal with it. This guy has been proactive and tried to do the right thing, for which he deserves credit. I know a lot of guys who would have just said tough luck, especially after four years. Not that I feel it’s right for them to be like that, quite the opposite, but a lot of tradesmen do that.
Thank you Teddy, really appreciate you subbing, thank you so much. Hopefully you'll watch our previous videos and find out that we do a lot right first time round! Hopefully you'll see that in the up coming videos too!! Thank you again, take care.
Don't feel too sorry for me Jonathan, it was my mistake and it's up to me to put it right! Thank you though! Hope you're well.
@@Mr_A_Builders thank you. I look forward to following your progress. And yes I’ve already watched a few and did indeed notice that the vast majority of things you do are spot on first time 😬👍
What a good bloke you are. I've got to the point in life where I don't trust anyone anymore. Everywhere I go people try and rip you off and short change you. If something needs doing I just research it, study it and do it myself so there's no one else to blame if things go wrong. Why? Because most people revert to dishonesty for self preservation, they don't think about their customer and it's sickening. I applaud you for being so honest... you're a good man 🙏
Too true, almost every trade I get in to do something fucks something up and doesn't mention it or say sorry. So over it
Use sulphate resisting cement at 4-1 mix. Sulphate resisting will dry slightly bluer rather than grey in colour and costs slightly more than standard OPC. Used it for years when building petrol stations, it’s the go to cement for harsh environments.
Wouldn't use LBC, should use a class A engineering brick
don't use cement at all.
Only proper pure lime mortar can handle damp like that. Why do you think 1000 year castles are still standing?
Most builders around my area would never have come back to fix it. So massive credit to you. Well deducted on the problem. Great job :)
Very refreshing to see a video like this. Some old OSB sheets on the patio before dismantling the failed wall would have been better.
First video I've ever seen of yours. I don't know jack about building but enjoy watching talented tradesmen. It's not arrogance and showing off - it's pride in your work. You seem like a great bloke and if you have to pay £500 for a lesson so be it. Reputation and word of mouth is worth much more.
Thank you Thomas, really appreciate that mate and you're right, I should pay the money and get it right for them, they trusted, and paid me too in the first place so I'll sort it.
@@Mr_A_BuildersGet the thermos and Azzera out for a year and knock the Costa's on the head and it'll pay for itself! 😆
Haha!!! You're right! However, the thought of that makes me feel sick!
@@Mr_A_Builders I heard cow dung ash is the economical alternative to cement, however that might just be bull shit.
@@Mr_A_Builders btw well done 👍
If I ever needed building work doing and lived local to you I would not hesitate in using you. A genuine good guy.
Oh thank you! That's a really nice thing to say, really appreciate it.
Good on you for fixing it. Many would walk away. Nice to see honest reputable builders still out there.😊
And this is the reason builders like you will be looked at and hired all the time. Honest , helpful and 100% legit , good on ya mate.
Makes no odds people will always go cheap option no matter the quality of the person doing the job. We went above and beyond with some of our customers and still get stuffed by them regardless of doing freebies for them.
I'm a contractor as well and I've had similar situations due to company's not getting the mix right. You did the logical thing fixing the wall and I'm sure it will pay off with reputation You have integrity sir and good job.
So it's the mortar mix that was wrong.
If it was mixed on site into a mixer with shovels unlikely though? Unless there was something up with the cement maybe
New subscriber gained, just for the sheer respect you had to come back after 4 years and rectify the issue.
Thank you Adal, appreciate that mate.
4 years later... you are definitely a man amongst children. I can say as someone who has worked with my hands for most of my life.. so few builders would do this, your integrity is without question as builder here.
My dad started a new home construction business with every cent the family had saved their entire life. He built 1 house at a time until yrs later taking a huge risk by building multiple homes at a time. He spent money that most refuse to spend in order for the home to be considered very well built. Most spend on whats flashy. Drywall out. He spent on upgrades inside the drywall and then on what normal people can see. From higher quality insulation to extra power outlets in every room. He averaged 8% profit over 30 yrs compared to most making a min of 15%. My dad had the same character as it seems u do. One time he paid over 100k to fix a water issue that was hidden to us by the developer. Underground spring we didnt know about until after the house was built and customer had lived there 3 yrs. By law, dad didnt have to do anything. Especially considering the wealthy developer hid the spring from everyone. Anyway, dad paid out of pocket. Just one example of the lengths my dad went to in order that his name was golden. Yr question was should u pay? My answer is how do u want yr kids and customers to remember u after yr dead and gone. My dad has taught me no amount of money is worth hurting yr name, yr clear mind, yr ability to sleep at night, yr being able to walk around with yr head high knowing u have something money cant buy. Character. Well done sir
Ventilate the air gap and put in weep slots from the gap You look financially secure. You made a good profit on first build. Make it right for the home owner.
Would those slots need to be cleaned out from time to time?
@@grantmurphy7965 good point. Not normally. Its a bigger problem if you have to.
I got to thinking the cold air could get in through a vent too big and freeze the back wall causing a big problem. The guy is very respectable
The 400-600 do you have to pay for materials is worth it’s weight in reputation. In that amount you could not get the same response from advertising. I have a situation where I install heated floors in a customers bathroom and the cable failed so I have to go back tear up the floor and fix the heated floor for them. In this case it was a manufacturing defect but I still will bear the brunt of the expense. It’s just something we have to live with as contractors. And like you said you have blue skies could be worse.
I think that is what he is doing
Total respect to you sir. So nice to see a proper professional who cares for his customers and the quality of the workmanship.Even after years of completing the job. Hats off to you sir.
Thank you Paul! That's a great comment to read on a lovely Saturday evening! Thank you mate, hope you're well.
The measure of a good company should always be confirmed when things go wrong. Your doing the right thing, a proper example to all tradesmen when it goes wrong. I would ask the customer to cover the cost of the bricks or split the cost by getting you to redo the single skin leaning wall before it goes. Great video, big respect 👍
Should have waterproofed the block wall behind
Also a flashing so water didn't rise up the wall. extra reinforcement chicken wire every 4 courses
Where was you tie's to stop movement
Cavity should be 50mm air flow.
Your wall is touching inner wall
Last solid bricks need to be layed wet not dry it absorbs and bonds better (not too wet)
Thank you Water Boy, I'm going to foot the bill myself as it's totally my error so it shouldn't cost them anything.
I would be protecting the patio before I’d have to replace that.! Waterproof the wall and change bricks
Seems like he wants to replace that too
Water! Can't see any drainage.we use a slotted drain and a fluted plastic panel with cloth filter.U will b doin it again if u don't.U sound genuine..Redirect Water Mate.we do this even in Australia n assuming your in ol blighty!!!
Don’t know why this has been recommended to me but as most have said, a lot of respect for 1, showing your work that has gone wrong, and 2, going back to fix the problem.
Thank you mate. Take care.
I'm a surveyor/PM and, unless, they handed you a spec with the specific bricks they wanted, I think the remedial work sits with you. If I'd been the Client I'd have given you the spec for Ibstock etc or had a surveyor/architect sign off the extension and retaining wall. If you can't come to an agreement about new bricks couldn't you consider some bitumen/tanking to the block wall leaf?
Fair play to you for acknowledging the problem after 4 years.
Would you say it would be fair that he charged the extra over for the engineering bricks, any additional waterproofing/ tanking works and maybe a little for the extra over on laying engineering vs face (assuming it's not negligible)
@@DW-nx4dlI would charge some money for materials etc. as it was under specced to begin with.
We have carried out a good number of basement conversions over the years, the solution is to isolate the wet blockwork from the facing work with a wall membrane and use your cavity space at the bottom of the wall to form a water run off, probably exiting were you are going to maintain a air gap at next doors retaining wall. You could then reuse the existing bricks and sulphate resistant cement as mentioned before. Hope this helps.
100% right always use a membrane pal
Yep. A bitumen tanking membrane would be required as it is a retainer wall with elevated ground the neighbours side. Water is just pissing through
Best of going for a dry stone build never an issue with dry stone build
I think that's a great shout.
Mayby drainpipe /gravel and ventilated " nob "barrier (does with a air gap ) begind the back wall , but the question is were to lead the water from the drains. Konstant water absorbing may not be very good for the back wall eider.
With that kind of water pressure will a glued membrane on the back wall
Front face alone ,Remain in place over time?
Any waste mortar dropped into the gap/cavity between your wall and the existing wall will create a bridge for moisture. As you know, there should be weep holes at both walls and perhaps an impermeable membrane between them. I have dealt with a similar problem with a double brick cavity wall in an old house in N.Z. I used a 30mm pvc pipe extension to vacuum out the old fallen mortar. It was ancient lime mortar possibly from burnt crushed sea-shells.
Best of luck mate, and great that you're taking it on the chin.
Nice looking job. Probs got damp in it from behind/above and blown during winter. Put waterproofer in the mix, and add drainage and vents. Can see your drains from behind block work retainer but cavity probably still getting wet from ground water and can't drain. Maybe put some weep vents/drains in the bottom course of brick, and a dpc, vent the cavity with air bricks top and bottom, and a stepped 600mm dpc tray under your top closers, spanning from block to brick to protect the cavity 👍.
Think you've hit the nail on the head with the water theory, personally i would forget rebuilding in brick, i'd go for the sleepers or maybe even gabion cages, maybe have a chat with the client, and if they are reasonable they will pay for the materials, with you supplying the labour. hopefully they will appreciate that you are an honest tradesman.
Thank you Patrick gabion cages is a great idea.
What a top bloke you are. Dunno why this popped up.on my feed but im glad it did. Bravo, Sir.
Haha! That's the algorithm for you! Cheers mate, the care.
As a bricklayer and a surveyor for remiedial treatments, i appreciate you said this was built in April but that looks like it's been affected by frost to me! Natural ground salts can also effect your mortar, Nitrates, Sulphates, Chloride, also being a retaining wall below ground level the wall is subject to hydrostatic pressure, but ground salts have contributed here.
Hello Paul, hope you're well. Appreciate you watching and commenting. I can only assure you that it didn't freeze during the time.of the build. Salts, however, definitely! Totally agree with that. That's again, take care.
I see the drain holes. Personally I would have use membrane even if dpm sheet and a french drain backfill .... always...
What I do for retaining walls is I build just how you have done but on the backside of the wall I’ll dig a 200mm strip right down to ground/patio level all along the wall then weep holes at the bottom and fill the strip behind the wall (earth side) with 20mm gravel which acts like bit of a soak away. This allows the water in the ground to seep down to the weep holes alot easier and quicker meaning the water is less likely to penetrate the wall as much. The bricks you’ve used was fine in first place but you got to prevent the water coming through in the first place.👍
You wouldn't do this for a wall in front of a wall though?
Nothing better than an honest man,,too many today pass blame, it refreshing too see,,an honest man,. Hope your business grows, 🙏 to come back after 4 years, hats off that man,,most would of said jog on..
Respect mate for being honest shows integrity 👍 I guess I never used cavities on my garden wall's but they were always solid and left plenty of drainage holes to compensate for added pressure 👍
I'm not a builder but this is partly because many people are concreting over their gardens and losing natural soakage hence water runs to lowest point
Funnily enough Richard the elevated garden next door is 100% paved over! Which doesn't help our cause!
Very good to see you owning up and rectifying the problem. Respect.
Fair play to you and your customer service. Not many people would agree to go back to a job they completed 4 years ago.
Thank you! Appreciate you watching and commenting. All the best, take care.
The world needs more people like this in the world then maybe we wouldn't be in such a mess the world over!
Really appreciate that Kevin, thank you.
I did I bit of labouring back in the day. I'm no expert but I hope this helps.
The thing that stands out is when you scrape the pointing off a joint at one stage (3:41 which seem OKish) but the beds are just sand. It reminds me of demolishing stuff that's been standing for a few hundred yrs.
Lateral ground pressure isn't to blame as this would push the lot over as a slab.
You said that it went up in April so you can rule bad frost out.
And you used 4:1 with no plastisizer at all so that should be fine.
You would have laid the blues a day of two before so you can't really include them into what happened.
Something has destroyed the cohesive and adhesiveness of the cement.
I'm sure you know that cement is alkali but as you will also be aware it would take a lot of brick acid to damage the amount of compo used on a bed. How about testing the pH of the damp?
I'm down to three possibles 1/Duff cement. 2/Not enough cement (The labourer you sacked coz he was useless). 3/Something in the bricks? They do look like they have been damp with salt on them. (9:41 gives credence to acid minerals).
If it happened to be leeching from groundwater it would have destroyed the compo in the blocks first?
I'm not sure about water as this would have destroyed the blues too?
I would have definitely used a solid wall using engineering bricks against any soil but that would have put an extra £1k or so on the job and they wouldn't match the extension.
I would reuse the old bricks with a DPM and waterproofer in the mix like used in fishponds etc.
Talking of matching, spot on with the comment about not joining the old brickwork with toothing. Alway, always set the new brickwork back, even 10mm makes it look right👌
I'm sorry you have to bite the bullet as the rest looks like a 'job in the town' but you are doing the right thing sorting it out. I don't think you stand a chance of any comeback on the duff cement or acidic mineral salts leeching from the bricks.
You're obviously a genuine builder and hopefully 'spilling the beans' on UA-cam gets you more work - good luck🍀
Thank you Matty, great advice and brilliant learning points. Hope you're well mate.
For piece of mind, I’d recommend painting the existing wall with a waterproof bitumen paint and then as you’ve said use a 4/1 ratio and engineering bricks. Wish you luck and trust me this video will increase your work orders 👊🏼
If you suggested the bricks to match the house then you should pay. If they insisted on it, as the professional knowing about retaining walls, slope, water levels, qualities of engineering brick vs normal brick then it was also your place to advise them. If you didn't then you should pay. The client is already going through the difficulty of having to re-do the work so for the sake of the relationship and reputation you should consider paying for it.
Would be nice if they met you half way to be fair.
Why should they meet him halfway when it’s purely his error?? @@Meshedandrefreshed why
Cheers fellas, I'm with Frankie and Micky on this one.
Who ever built the block retaining wall should have had the back of it damp proofed with either a sheet damp proof membrane or liquid bitumen paint and drainage gravel behind so the water behind is forced to come out the weep holes
@@Meshedandrefreshed no, his mistake, entirely, his.
Sounds abit harsh but you should pay as you never used right bricks in the first place. I think it's brilliant your doing it and wish more was like you. After four years a lot would have said tough but fair play to you 👍
What makes them the incorrect bricks?
@@matthewturner1201 nothing wrong with the bricks.
Thank you Mark, appreciate that.
@@matthewturner1201didn’t he say that weren’t suitable for the surrounding landscape?
Totally appreciate your honesty ,at last ,someone on here that isn’t just bigging themselves up!
I’m a bricklayer and have been for 30 yrs .. I’ve only ever seen that reaction with frost damage .
I wish I could help ??
Keep up your good work.
Ade
Friendly tip put boards down so you don’t damage slabs also makes it easier to clean up
I thought that as soon as he started taking the wall down. Get some protection on the customers patio.
Fair play not only for fixing the problem, but for taking the time to video and post for all to show tradesmen are all human.
Cheers James. Hope you're well mate.
Boards are definitely a shovels best friend. Ryan ftw
Great video, as said you should have used boards That patio is going to be stretched. I think you should bare the full cost I’m afraid. It’s your mistake, as a builder you should have known what bricks to use.
Good day mr a builders, just watched your video about the crumbling wall, bloody hell there’s allot going on here!, im thinking of writing a thesis about it and going on a university tour! I’m only a humble plumber but iv been around the block a few times!,36 years to be precise so Iv got some knowledge about building practices, ok let’s talk about clip bate and UA-cam firstly and not the wall, this video apart apart from the subject matter has so much going on I might have to do 2 thesis’s!!, I quite fancy stood behind a lecturne!, first impression s,the thumb nail is intriguing and drew me in which is good, there drama! A wall has failed but who’s fault is it and who’s going to pay!!! Im hooked so carry on watching,within a few minutes iv sussed out that (obviously it’s only my opinion) that you have made a mistake!, going back to the filming of you talking about the problem with what seems like sad face I need sympathy sort of approach and I don’t feel like it’s my fault and I don’t want to pay to fix the problem which In my opinion is obviously yours, makes great content for your channel and you have huge amounts of comments and views for a video about you talking about a problem on a job!, you asked straight to camera for comments and advise about the problem! Hence here is my 10 pence worth!, as far as I can tell you seem like a fairly decent chap (I truly mean that) and going off the main extension job the quality of your work seems really good and you know what your doing, here lies one of the problems, it seems pretty obvious where you went wrong even to me (I’m not going to go over this technical side of things it’s been covered multiple times in the comments) this leads me to the next question?, is it honestly, stupidity or a way to gain more views on your channel that made you do this video? Told you there was allot going on in this video isn’t it great!!!, let’s flip it a minute for the crack, let’s say your video was still with you doing your poor me sad face but instead of making excuses you say iv fucked up! I took my eye of the ball and I’m going to show you what I did wrong! (Sorry I don’t buy the story you told about not knowing this would happen, I think deep down you suspected this would happen) and then you could show rectificing the problem and standing the costs, you make it seem like it’s going to bankrupt you but your only talking £100’s of pounds and a bit of weekend work, any decent building firm will have some contingencies for problem jobs, you and your video are an enigma! There’s you playing the victim after a mistake which you should have known better,theres you dumbing yourself down by claiming ignorance about the problem which like I said I don’t buy, you seem like quite a intelligent chap, wow perhaps you knew exactly what you were going and knew this video would get loads of views and comments all along and I’m feeding into that!! Well whatever the truth is iv got to say “bravo”
Builder myself, you sound like a fellow Midlander.
I’ve always had good success with having a membrane behind and a pea gravel buffer, where I live in wales now I’ve had to build a 4ft high retaining wall (15 linear metres) out of 9” hollow blocks, I’ve put rebar down the middle of them then filled with concrete, membrane down the back, 18” wide gravel buffer 1m high, land drain at the bottom going out to stream, took a lot of work but hopefully will outlast me.
Give the collecting water somewhere to go, you’ll never stop the water but you can control where it goes, it’s frightening how much shift energy the frost can produce, I’ve seen some huge walls shift because of improper control of water.
Fair play to you for going back and standing by your work.
Thank you mate, appreciate that. Hope you're well mate
You are a good craftsman and you are doing the right thing. If I were the owner I would appreciate your efforts and pay for your cost.
Cheers mate, appreciate that..hope you're well.
Unfortunate incident but this man is pure gold. Honest builder. Well done mate will subscribe.
That would be ace, Farhat! Thank you. And also for your kind words. Take care.
Fair play mate for rebuilding it
Looking at it there is 2 problems here ,damp coming through the blockwork and rainwater running down the face as you have used a coping with no drip which will result in freeze,thaw action during the winter , this is why the top half of the wall is worse .
My advice is to leave a cavity when you rebuild it , the existing blockwork should be strong enough to retain the load ,( best to use 9 inch hollows though next time ) by putting a cavity (30 mm is ok )there’s no way the damp from the blockwork can travel through to the face work .
I would still use and engineered brick and a proper coping stone with a drip , the wall will then remain dry then for the most part
Good luck 👍
"I'm working for free."
Did you refund them and do the job for nothing? Because just fixing the problem isn't working for free, it's just doing what you were paid to do originally.
Hats off for putting this up, makes a nice and more realistic change from all the " I've laid a million bricks today on site and it's not even lunch time " stuff that is normally flung up to watch. Personally, if you go for the brickwork rebuild, I would get a semi engineering brick like the ones in the boundary wall with the neighbours. I'd also think about maybe bitumen painting the existing block on flat wall behind your brickwork, it should help to keep some of that water from soaking through from next doors property. Who pays for it all is, of course, the real biggie. As your supplying labour and part materials free of charge, maybe they'll split the cost of the new bricks 50/50? Good luck anyway, I hope you let us all know how it ends up.
I wouldn’t recommend putting bitumen paint on the wall it will just make the problem worse
Hello Walesdad, appreciate the comment mate. Yeah, all the "look how quick we are" stuff can get a bit tiresome can't it, fair play to them though as they are earning the money. Which is a lot more than I can say on this job!
First time on your channel, but I just want to say thank you. A lot of workers in my are tend to run off after they've finished and half the time it's not a job well done. But you seem so genuine, so a massive thank you from me :)
No no no! Thank you! Take care.
I applaud your full transparency. I always tell our customers it's not just about the price or the job but the after-service too.
It would be all too easy to point at the clock and say "too late its 4yrs now... could have been frost" blah blah blah but you haven't hidden away or ducked it
Fair play to you !
Cheers mate, hope you're busy.
Well done for putting this right. Not many tradesman would have answered the call never mind put it on UA-cam.
This shows to me that you are a decent, honourable tradesperson and deserve your success.
There is a school of thought that you are far more likely to keep a customer who has had an issue that you have put right then a customer who never had an issue in the first place. 👍. I wish you every success.
Honestly, this video will get you so much work mate.
The honestly, showing that you’re human and these things happen! I’m not in the bricklaying game but I do landscaping etc.
Videos like this may actually help out in bringing back some sort of humanity within the building trade.
Cracking video mate, honestly I take my hat off to you! - I don’t think I would upload anything like this but maybe now I probably would!
Stay safe, I’ve also subbed!
Thought you would have protected the patio area before dropping rubbish on it 😢
Why? It's just fine.
Great video as a engineer and working in the service industry I would offer the following. You can re build the wall with existing bricks but explain the same will happen. Or re build with new bricks. As for the cost and who should pay I would suggest that the cost of the original bricks is deducted from the cost of the new bricks. The client paid for the original bricks on your recommendation they did not decide on the type of brick.
Thank you Mark. I think it's only right that I pay to put it right.
"An engineer" lol
I agree that the customer pay the difference in the brick, and you provide the labor free to retain your reputation 😊
The honesty of this video would drive me to hire you.
Thank you for your integrity, sir. I have a big job that needs to be done, and wish I lived near you.
Mate, you're a good man. Well done to you, honesty gets you very far in life. Good, honest work speaks volumes
Thank you Dario.
My deceased uncle was an architect. There was never a job he put out for tender that wasn't a contract with a full specification attached. I've watched builders, double glazing, plumbers etc squeal when he pulled them for breaking the contract by non-compliance. It's the only way for all parties. If he'd messed up, then that was his responsibility, but he never did. Watched him once design a contract with full specification of double glazing materials and parameters etc on CAD, then Emailed it to 17 double glazing companies. He got a super cheap job at HIS specifications complied with. If they didn’t like the contract aspect, he’d simply award it to someone else. A very shrewd man and a builder’s nightmare.
Love it.
I'm glad you did this, it does go wrong sometimes its not always perfect, not many would be prepared to broadcast their mistakes, makes you more trustworthy in my eyes
Cheers mate, appreciate that.
The most elite professionals I have worked with have always left their egos at the door and been quite open about their mistakes - not just so they can learn but so others can as well. The outcomes from this mindset are actually results in world class outcomes few would be able to imitate. In my experience this is a prerequisite for elite teams. I know there would be people who would've said you were stupid for putting this up but you are actually the opposite. Well done for demonstrating that there are still some people who have the humility to learn and for others to learn from them. As for the problem at hand, I haven't the first clue - I probably couldn't lay two Bricks straight even if I tried.
Top man for fixing it. Black jack the blockwork and don't use those bricks. LBC are code F1 you need to be using an F2 which is it's frost rating and weather resistance. F2 bricks are like semi engineerings so perfect for garden walls. Also add some water proofer to your mix
That is absolutely right; your thinking is spot on. Well done.
Cheers mate.
I love your transparency, you are a builder I would use and recommend
Yes you do have to fix it. Walls shouldn't fall down after 4 years.
Isn't that what I said?
Very brave of you to show when things go wrong. Everyone makes a mistake at least once in a while and anyone who says they don't is a liar. How we react to a deal with mistakes is what defines us to the customer. No excuses, no blaming something else, just "This is wrong, I'm going to put it right". Well done mate!
Ask them if they want the wall rebuilt with the same bricks (but use stronger mix and sulfate resistant mortar) which you pay for and they accept it could happen again, or use engineering bricks and they pay for the new bricks. It’s then their choice. Personally, I’d rebuild with the same bricks.
Doesnt matter anymore but I thought the fairest thing is not for the family to pay for bricks twice (the old & new), BUT they could pay the difference for the new bricks (so if it’s £200 more than the old bricks for example, they pay that £200 excess or however it works out)
It's hard as a customer coping with paying for something and it not working out. Your understanding of the problem regarding the water coming down the hill does however make it more your fault as this should have been something that struck you at the time. This is your everyday job which sort of gives you the responsibility.
I'm sure if you explained the situation they would be willing to contribute something if not go halves with you. Fair play for posting the video. You seem to be a genuine kind of guy. Hope it works out well for all concerned.
I do agree with your opinion, he has the knowledge and should have maybe thought this through at the time, after all he’ll of advised them and they’ll have paid for the bricks that were originally layed
The problem with the building game is your learn something new everyday.
Nothing is a standing still variable.Its only 30+years of experience that teaches you all the mistakes.Even at that they aren't mistakes, as half the time you could of seen it coming .The big issue is if builders charged the proper price to cover themselves and for the 30+ years of studying we would be charging more than a Barrister or brain surgeon.
depends if you offered solutions and the client wants a lower cost job still as quality as you can but to a budget with a ton less foundation/hardcoring or renting tools to wacker plate down fill you can get them to sign a waiver that states they want a corner cut to there gain short term against your advice/recommendation.
Never seen any of your videos BUT hats off to you sir for doing such a video. It’s clear that you have pride in your work. It’s clear that this was a genuine mistake/overlooked somewhat. It’s clear that your not a cowboy builder. Well done I’m sure this will be settled amicably. I know follow you and look forward to a follow up video. 👍
Thank you Sunny, really appreciate you saying that. Take care.
Fabulous video. Huge respect this guy. Just put it right and sleep easy. 👍🏻
Thank you Jeff! Great middle name by the way! Hope you're well mate.
Fair play too you Brother for sorting it out Brother....my next door neighbour had sort of same issue when he did his garden wall..
✌🤜🏽
Cheers Lee, appreciate that mate. Any idea how your neighbours wall ended up the way it did?
@@Mr_A_Builders
Cowboys were used I think because the price they quoted was way to cheap he then had to pay properly to correct it..
👍🤜🏽
All retaining walls should have a waterproof membrane, Bithuthene or similar stuck to it to prevent water penetration, do not use Visqueen water always finds a way behind it.Also as well as weep holes a French drain should be installed. In this case after time not only would the joints fail as they have but the faces would blow of the faces of the LBC bricks due to saturation and freeze thaw. Rebuilding it in Engineering bricks isn't going to solve the problem of water ingress into the mortar joints all I can suggest is adding a waterproofer to the mix. Ideal the back of the wall needs excavating and a Membrane and French drain installed.
I've just gone through the comments and seen people saying black jack the blockwork as a tanking, I would think this would fail in time , read up on positive and negative tanking and you will see what I mean.
This is the only solution that will work long term.. the retaining wall needs dug out on the other side then tanked.. If you do the tanking on clients side the water will just build up behind the retaining wall and work its way through eventually..
Cheers Andy, sorry that it's taken so long to get back to you mate, I've had a few more comments than I was expecting! Thank you for your advice mate, hope you're well.
@@Mr_A_Builders 👍👍
Personally, I would pay for it and hope that the gesture would stand me in good stead with word of mouth etc. as you said, really should have been done in engineerings or at least and F2 rated brick with stronger mortar! That said, a decent customer might at least half the materials with you given the years passed!
If i may have a geus. The problem is that moisture from the top sucks in from above ( when raining for example).
And if you you have caulk in your mortar . It will dissolve after time .
Never use premixed mortar outside . There is a lot of caulk in it to make it smooth to mix.
Its a bit tricky to explain but i am builder from the netherlands
You definitely can get frosts in April… the way the outer near the pointing is going, but the inner joint is ok looks like it may have had some environmental/elemental factor like a flash frost involved.
Note - in the uk it froze every single night in may last year!
First time I've seen your channel. I really like the honesty.
So my thoughts were, almost certainly an early frost on the first day or 2 of it being built (although you dismissed it early on but we still get frosts in April) and looking at the sun/shadows that is a damp, wet, cold spot where frost will linger. I believed this more when I saw that the mortar in the frogs was solid suggesting the frost was only deep enough to penetrate the thinnest part of the joint. I also reckon that you can still use those bricks, they are a face brick after all, but they'd need some extra protection. What we normally do is either use 1200g polythene on the blockwork or if we've used a lot of ties in the blockwork we have in the past used RIW or similar tanking paint that links onto the base engineering courses.
The only part out of your control is ensuring whoever built the first retaining wall used a French drain with stone and terram. Otherwise there is the danger of the hydrostatic pressure building up and forcing the wall over, which seems to be happening on the wall down the side.
So, I'd DPM the back wall, re-use the facings, we are just about into November so hessian every night and only lay above 3degrees, (I know you know this) Use a coping with a drip and on that return, cut to the angle of that leaning wall but give a 20mm expansion & mastic (in grey) measure and record with a calibrator the top and share that info with the client and their neighbour and let them monitor that lean over time. The neighbours home insurance might have you back doing theirs in a few years.
I'm now going to subscribe.
Keep up the good work and remember honesty pays better than money.
Hello Rob, really sorry for the late reply, we've been away for a few days. Thank you for getting in touch, like a lot of people I'm a great admirer of you and your work so your opinion on this is greatly appreciated. I agree with everything that you say and I definitely need to do something with the movement of water, I don't think that just tanking it will suffice. The issue is that the back of the wall on the neighbours side is tight to the boundary, any excavating at all there will undermining his fence. I'm going to explain all this in more detail in a follow up video because I think that there's loads of learning points for lots of people within this project, it's not as straightforward as I may have had people think and if just a couple take something from it then it'll be worth it. Thanks again Rob, I look forward as always to your future videos, take care.
What Rob doesn’t know about brickwork isn’t worth knowing 👌🏻
Rob is a master bricklayer any advice he gives I’d be inclined to follow ! The man is second to none when it comes to brickwork x
Couldn't agree more mate.
@@Mr_A_Builders hope it turned out well this time keep up the good work x
It could have easily been far worse - it could have been the extension! I just wish more builders had integrity and pride in their work. Well done for owing the job and putting it right. That's a beautiful extension and patio you did!
Interesting video. Ultimately i think you have no option but to make good the wall, as there would be grounds for a complaint / costs based on expected life of a brick wall. Ultimately putting it right without quibbling will do much better for your reputation in the long run.Useful unless you are retiring next week. Plus it is just the right thing to do... Well done
Thank you Denise, you're right of course, it's on me to pay for everything.
We as groundworkers would have tanked that wall then used semi engineer bricks. But we always do 327 walls for extra support (I no that ain’t affecting the compo) retaining walls on site always has land drain behind it aswell. Your very unlucky tbh but shows the water it’s taking only lasting 4 years good to see things like this as we always think things are over kill on the walls we do but things like this show it ain’t. I appreciate how honest you are
Agreed, I would never specify LBCs for garden work although they are not showing any signs of frost damage that is their usual moniker. I think the issue is ground water pressure although I note that there are weep pipes(?) from the back and they don't seem to be working with no tell tail water staining. As the neighbour's wall is not plumb the ground pressure must be considerable. Is the inner block skin plumb? There is clearly no way that the cavity between the blockwork and brickwork can drain so that if it filled with ground water then the brickwork would have reacted in the way it has I note that the brickwork to neighbour's wall was a solid joint, this should have been an expansion joint that would have alleviated the pressure on your LBC brick skin.
There is no indication as to what the general ground conditions are but if it is clay then the rear of the retaining walls should be backfilled with granular material and weep holes provided. A drain pipe is not necessary unless the collected water is being discharged elsewhere.
Thank you Daniel, you could argue that there's no such thing as overkill! Fair play mate.
You're obviously a craftsman , this is so refreshing to hear and see this video.
I would hire you anytime
Nice to see a conscientious man who takes pride in his work. Very few of your type left.
Takes pride in his work yet throwing bricks down onto the patio he laid 4 years ago without a care in the world about marking / chipping the sandstone? Few Osb boards and some dpm would of made you get a thumbs up from me
Thank you iersejounge, really appreciate that.
But I only did all this to get a thumbs up from you!!! Gutted!!! Go on...you may as well while you're here.....
For what it’s worth, here is my take. You have got yourself into a pickle. You have skinned a non water proof wall with no water management and a coping that looks like it allowed water to penetrate at the rear. The skin of brick was not the problem. I bet there is no shingle behind the concrete blocks, nor the back of the blocks have been treated with waterproofer or has a vertical DPM…..
Choices: I wouldn’t put back the brickwork, I’d remove the blues down below the ground level, render the concrete blocks with a Sika system waterproofer, paint 150mm at the bottom with black jack and infill the gap where the bricks were with shingle.
Other than that, I’d corbel out the first course creating a larger gap between the concrete blocks and your new brickwork, fit weep vents at every perp on your first course and run a sheet of vertical DPM at the back of 5 courses, trap it between the course, fit another line of weep holes with ties into the blocks and then repeat the vertical DPM up to your top course. 100% a 1:4 mix with a waterproofer and plasticiser additive, Bostik do an all in one. Id make sure that ground behind the wall of next door don’t run into the back of your copping, it will trap the water in between the skins. You can see where it running down the concrete blocks.
All the best.
Jonathan is spot on with both his diagnosis and solution to your problem. For what it's worth, I'm a bricklayer with 35 years experience . The cavity is far too small too and water management is the whole problem, it has no where to go, unless this is sorted out properly, you'll be back in another 4 years doing it all again! Good luck.
Fair play for standing over the job most builders would block the number and never come back 👏
Was on a job that got red tagged. We came back over 2 months later. I decided to mix one bag of concrete from the two pallets that had been sitting in a cool dry covered area. That is when I learned concrete has a shelf life.
Haha funny man
So true I currently have two bags sitting in my garage that are just cement blocks disguised as bags of cement at this point😂. Thought about just digging a hole and burying them but decided to keep them just in case I need some weight to hold something down.
@@stickemuppunkitsthefunlovi4733 actually it does.
@@wonkybomb1865 yeah, they'll harden up, however it will crumble easily unless lye is added.
Visqueen up between the blocks & the existing bricks & enough room for them not to touch. Run the visqueen under the bottom course of bricks as a damp course and plenty of weep holes at the bottom to allow the moisture a way out. It'll cost the price of a decent mix a roll of visqueen & your time.
My thoughts too matey
Well done mate for comin on here and showing everyone makes mistakes but takes a proper man to fess up and own it 👏👏👏👏
Couple of things.. generally I wouldn't use LBC bricks on a retainer . I noticed as the wall came down the 10mm joint behind the brick isn't filled so water can accumulate .
In my opinion what I think is 5/1 mix is not strong enough for a retaining wall , I think the morter has got wet then it's down to frost damage.
Make sure there is good drainage behind the wall I have put perforated pipe in to take water away and black jack the block work.
Bucket mix the mortar to make sure the mix is correct and don't go crazy on the Feb.
And a good coping beded well
Top respect, proper tradesman willing to admit to a mistake and do the work for free
Cheers mate, hope you're well.
Definitely its water, would need an ag line drainage behind the wall with a fall to take water away, gravel on top of the ag line pipe, but to do that , either the block wall needs to be set back, or the brick wall moved forward, as I said it's definitely water related