Advice needed on garden shed walls

Hi there

Has anyone had experience in a bit of building works?

We knocked down our garden sheds roof, front wall and are looking to leave the concrete base and 2 walls up.....

At the moment they look like this:



We've left the wood supports up against the bricks and will be ripping down the black sheets.

However the plan is to make these walls secure enough to act as an entertainment area - we want to paint them cream and set up a patio area on the concrete (will put decking down over the concrete).

What is the best way to make these walls structurally sound? Do we leave the wood planks on them and build another set of bricks over top? Or do we remove the wood planks and render over the brickwork?

Any suggestions, would be really helpful!

Thanks

Ideally,you should first off install some coping stones onto the top of the brickwork.If you dont,rainwater will get into the top line of bricks and come winter when temperatures drop-the water inside the bricks freezes then expands and blows them apart.Cheap concrete coping stones are only a couple of pounds each from builders merchants and also look better than faced bricks.

Also-i dont like the idea of 2 tall freestanding walls being unsupported.How about installing some timber joists spanning one wall to another.This way,the 2 walls will be tied together and its structual integrity wont be compromised if someone fell against either wall.Done in a tasteful way it would look like a pergola and you could even grow a climber over it,but remember to use pressure treated timber so it can withstand damp/insect attack.A coat of Cuprinol every couple of years will prolong its life further.

Installing the joists to the masonry walls is easy.After the coping stones are installed,cut some 4x1 pressure treated timber to match length of each wall and (using a hammer drill with masonry bit) drill holes through the timber straight through into coping stones.Then buy some 'hammer fixings' (they look like a normal screw,but have rawl plug already attached) and hammer these all the way home.You dont screw these in despite what they look like-hence being called hammer fixings! These are available at any builders merchant in a wide range of lengths.The joists can then be attached with ease to the 4x1 timber plinths fixed to brickwork with ease.

Personally,i would remove the excisting timber from walls then finish off with masonry paint.Rendering isnt neccesary unless you want a smooth finish.

Hi Steve - this is brilliant information thank you!

We do have the third wall in place - haven't knocked it down so we might be able to get away with not having a beam across the top.

I'm concerned about the bricks because they weren't joined together very well so I'm worried about their stability - I thought maybe rendering might have helped but really don't know enough about it to make that call. TBH would prefer painted bricks to painted rendering but whatever comes out the cheapest to do.

Thanks for the advice on the coping stones - didn't know that so we'll need to get it sorted quickly!

Thanks for taking the time to write it!

If the walls are structually OK-repointing neatens everything up and makes the joints waterproof again.Just make sure to rake out old mortar down to a depth of around 10mm to get adequate adhesion.

arrrghhhhhhhhh!!!!

I think we better get someone to come and look at it LOL

My building speak is rather limited and knowledge on the subject worse!!

Thanks Steve at least you've given us the info we need so if we speak to any cowboys we will be well guarded on the subject.

Thanks

wow well done steve you really know your stuff!!

maple i think steves advice is very sound and the best you could ask for
hope all goes well and we will be seeing pics of the finished project i trust lol