Repair of a brick pillar that leaned over. Brick fences

Repairing a fence that has served for many years is just as important as building it. Problems can arise with both metal and brick fences. It is necessary to carefully prepare for the repair of the fence with your own hands, having learned how the replacement of one or another element is done, and how much it will cost. Armed with the necessary knowledge, we will quickly and efficiently repair any fence.

Profiled fence

Welded structures should not have broken parts. First of all, visually inspect the fence and identify flaws. It is possible that the deformation of the gate will be detected. In this case, it will be required for a steel channel.

What to look out for

First of all, pay attention to the condition of the supports of any fence. Rotting or lopsided poles will need to be replaced.

The most common problems:

skew and deformation of the support;
erosion of the soil under the support;
low-quality fasteners;
damage to fence sections;
corrosion of metal.

Scheme for wooden poles

They also inspect the integrity, picket fence,. These materials may be damaged by mechanical impact or precipitation. If the barrier sections are damaged, they must be replaced.

Repair of a wooden picket fence

Rack processing

After the unusable boards are removed, the distance between them and the number of new elements are calculated. Remove old rusty nails and clean the surface of the wooden support with sandpaper. When covering the surface with drying oil, it is not necessary to thoroughly clean the board. You can only remove the old paint. Later .

At the end, guides are attached, and on them - a picket fence. To make it even, you need to set the level using a building cord. The boards are fastened with a suitable size with self-tapping screws or construction nails.

Metal fence repair

Drawing for re-support

Repair of a fence from a professional flooring

Reinforcing metal fence posts

Metal frame welding

Netting fence repair

If during the inspection a blockage of the fence was revealed, it is leveled with a jack or winch. At the base of the pillar, a hole is dug 50 cm deep and covered with rubble, tamped and cemented.

If a damaged mesh is found, it must be replaced with a new one, bolted or welded.

Frequent repairs to metal mesh fences are not required. They are quite durable and last a long time.

Another common problem is the deformation of the gate. This problem appears when the structure is incorrectly installed. To prevent this from happening, the support poles are mounted on a metal channel.

The scheme of installation of a fence from a chain-link mesh

Foundation construction and repair. Basic moments:

Dig a trench half a meter deep along the length of the fence.
A metal channel is laid in it, pillars are welded to it.
The channel is covered with rubble, rammed.
The surface of the trench (15 cm) is poured with concrete.

This design is guaranteed to last a long time without distortion.

Welded fence repair

The main feature of this fence is installation by welding. It is almost impossible to manufacture and repair such a fence without special tools and skills.

Scheme for a welded fence

May suffer from corrosion or broken welds. Annual painting of all hedge elements will protect against rust. If rust does appear, it is cleaned off with fine-grained sandpaper, covered with an anti-corrosion primer and painted.

Violation of the integrity of welding is eliminated by repeated application of welds and coating with a layer of primer and paint.

In this article, you will learn how to make routine repairs to a brick or stone fence. We will tell you what tools and materials you will need for this, give advice on repairing the foundation and masonry, list ways to eliminate cracks, seal and grout.

Analysis of the state of the foundation

As a result of winter frosts, thaws and spring snowmelt, the foundation of a stone fence can be flooded, sag or swell. The appearance of such serious problems usually means that the following mistakes were initially made during the construction of the foundation:

ignoring the structural features of the soil and relief on the site;
insufficient depth of laying the foundation;
incorrect arrangement of the base (pillow);
lack of reinforcement;
lack of drainage;
low quality fill.

Visually, all this manifests itself in the form of through deep cracks along the entire width and height of the foundation, displacement of rows and noticeable deformations (deflections or swelling) of brick or masonry.

Attempts to repair such a section of the fence using piles, backfilling and compacting the soil or additional pouring of concrete, at best, will lead to the fact that further destruction of the foundation and masonry will only be delayed for several months, and at worst (which happens much more often) - to an uneven redistribution load and the beginning of the destruction of adjacent sections of the fence. Therefore, the only correct solution is usually the complete dismantling and replacement of the entire fence section with careful observance of the technology.

Repair of cracks in the foundation

If the foundation and masonry are not visually displaced, then to determine the nature of the crack (active, expanding or passive), it is necessary to examine this section of the fence using a level and plumb line, and also apply a thin layer of alabaster or cement mortar (beacon) to the crack. If after a week the lighthouse remains intact, and the crack itself is short and not through, then it is enough to repair it with a solution of the same brand as when pouring the foundation.

Attention! It is necessary to seal even the smallest and most harmless-looking cracks in the foundation immediately after they are discovered, since the moisture that gets into the cracks and the roots of plants will tirelessly work to expand them.

Required tools:

chisel;
hammer;
metal brush;
trowel;
device for washing cracks with water under pressure.

Work order:

we expand the cracks with a chisel, remove the crumbled pieces of cement along its edges;
remove cement and stone chips, clean cracks with a metal brush;
rinse with water under pressure, remove dust;
fill cracks with cement mortar.

Repair of supporting pillars

Due to the presence of a foundation, ordinary supports of a stone or brick fence mainly perform a decorative function, not a load-bearing one. The only exceptions are the supporting pillars to which gates and gates are attached. Being made of the same material as the main masonry of the fence, the bearing poles must either have a supporting metal pipe inside, or be reinforced from the outside along the entire height with a welded frame of metal corners and strips. Gates are attached to such an internal or external frame.

If the stone or brick pillar has already cracked, unable to withstand the weight of an incorrectly installed gate, then any attempts to fix the fasteners back into the masonry will be useless. In this case, it is advisable to completely disassemble the post (including the dismantling of the foundation) and fold it again, installing a metal pipe inside it and welding the gate fasteners directly to it. Regardless of the depth of the foundation, the support pipe must be deepened into the ground by at least 70 cm.

A compromise option for repairing a supporting brick or stone pillar (without disassembly) includes the following steps:

complete removal of metal fasteners from the masonry;
replacement of destroyed bricks;
sealing cracks and holes in the masonry;
strengthening the post at all four corners with a frame of metal corners (they need to be interconnected using metal strips welded or screwed every 40-50 cm).

Identification of cracks in masonry and their causes

Before proceeding with the repair of any crack in the fence masonry, it is necessary to find out and eliminate the cause of its occurrence, otherwise the repair will be useless. Cracks in masonry occur for the following reasons:

Combined exposure to moisture, frost and sun.
Problems with the foundation of the fence (their elimination is described above).
The use of unsuitable types of bricks.
Poor foundation waterproofing.
The use of different brands of bricks and types of stone in one masonry.

It is obvious that the problems caused by the use of materials that are completely unsuitable for masonry fences (for example, unfired, hollow, silicate or insufficiently frost-resistant bricks), as well as the use of different types of stone in one masonry, can only be solved by dismantling and replacing the entire problem area masonry. The same applies to cases where the waterproofing substrate between the foundation and the masonry was not initially properly arranged.

Classification and elimination of cracks, replacement of cracked bricks

Consider the repair of cracks in the fence masonry, not caused by problems with its foundation, that is, resulting from weathering and natural decay of brick and concrete.

Required tools:

chisel or scarpel;
hammer;
perforator;
metal brush;
washing tool;
trowel;
injector tube and syringe for pumping the solution;
drill and hacksaw for metal.

Work order:

installation and subsequent verification of beacons (see above);
expansion of the crack with a chisel, its cleaning with a brush and washing with water under pressure;
manual filling with mortar (for shallow cracks up to 8 mm wide);
drilling a hole with a perforator and pumping the mortar into the masonry (for deep cracks up to 20 mm wide);
removal of crumbled or split fragments of masonry and installation of a lock from new bricks (for cracks more than 20 mm wide);
installation on both sides of the fence of overlays made of metal strips or profile sections attached to the masonry with through bolts or anchors (in the case of especially long and deep cracks).

In the latter case, strip steel with a width of at least 50 mm and a thickness of at least 5 mm is used as overlays, and metal rods with a thickness of at least 20 mm are used as anchors. The distance between the anchor points should be equal to twice the thickness of the wall.

The final stage: cleaning, sealing and jointing masonry joints

Required tools:

for cleaning joints - the same as those used for cleaning and sealing cracks;
to fill the joints with mortar - a trowel, vertical and horizontal jointing, a wooden lath, a plaster falcon.

Work order:

cleaning damaged joints from dirt and residues of the old mortar to a depth of 15-20 mm;
wetting masonry with water;
filling the seams with mortar;
sealing the mortar and creating the desired shape of the seam using a joint of a suitable size (after the mortar sets a little to a plastic state);
removal of the remnants of the solution with a brush or rag.

Good day! Help me please). At the cottage in the fence, profiled sheets alternate with brick risers. In the spring, plates from bricks began to fall off and it turns out very ugly. How can you repair bricks without taking them out (how to repair them. To paint them later)? Thanks in advance for your advice.

Irina, Moscow.

Hi Irina from Moscow!

You're in a pretty awkward situation.

When installing combined fences consisting of brick pillars and sheets of profiled iron, the so-called embedded parts are mounted in the masonry, to which later cross-beams from a profile pipe are attached, and fence sheets are already attached to the rails themselves.

If everything is more or less clear with the sheets and their installation and fastening are not accompanied by troubles, then with the pillars it is somewhat more difficult.

Their condition depends primarily on the quality of the material (bricks and cement mortar), on the design of the head of the column and on the professionalism of the masons who made the brickwork.

The exfoliation of the brick material occurs, as a rule, from the presence of a large number of microcracks in them, which in turn depends on the poor quality of firing, the source material, storage conditions and some other reasons. This is exacerbated by the ingress of water into microcracks, freezing at sub-zero temperatures. Increasing in volume, the ice deforms and destroys the bricks, as a result of which the surface layers break off from them.

Sometimes this also happens from poor-quality masonry joints and their shape (options for using winter and summer jointing).

And sometimes the absence of protective elements on the poles on their upper part leads to such results. When moisture, instead of draining without affecting the outer surfaces of the masonry of the pillars, constantly wets them.

But this is all reasoning, but what to do?

Unfortunately, it is impossible to give a definite answer to this question.

The options are as follows.

1) The pillars are completely covered with plaster with its further painting in the desired color. At the same time, all the charm of brickwork, as such, disappears, which in most cases the owner does not like.

2) They take out the destroyed bricks and replace them with new ones, thereby restoring and reproducing the masonry. The operation is very long, requires a lot of time and skill. It is usually used in the restoration of ancient buildings and structures, it is expensive. But it does not always lead to the desired result, since the bricks from the new batch often look different from those used in the previous laying.

3) Brick pillars are completely dismantled and replaced with new ones made of high-quality bricks and in compliance with the correct masonry technology. The tops of the pillars are covered with metal caps, which protect the masonry from excess moisture.

4) They clean the pillars from the collapsed bricks, plaster these places with ordinary plaster, carefully smooth them with a spatula and paint them in the color corresponding to the bricks. Which is also done with certain costs and can be noticeable if you look closely. Sometimes all other bricks with this option have to be painted over with the same paint so that the restored places do not differ from the general background.

To date, other options are unknown to me and I can not tell you more.

Other questions on the installation of fences, gates, gates.

Now you rarely see a wooden fence in a private household - it was replaced by concrete and iron structures. But it is wood that can give coziness and warmth, create an atmosphere of comfort - wooden fences have always been and will be a priority for connoisseurs of beauty and style. Fences of the type in question are often used in suburban areas - convenient, inexpensive and suitable for the general style of country estates. Unfortunately, from time to time a tree loses its attractive appearance, and moisture provokes the appearance of fungus, mold, which also spoils the quality of the fence. How to repair a wooden fence with your own hands, if there is no specific knowledge and necessary experience?

Necessary dismantling

Before starting any repair work, the wooden fence must be dismantled. And even if only one section is damaged, it is worth examining the entire barrier and identifying possible places that require repair / replacement.

Note:dismantling a wooden fence is mandatory - when trying to carry out the necessary repairs in a suspended state, the desired quality will not be achieved due to difficult access to the lower parts of the sections and supports.

To carry out dismantling work, you will need the following tool:

nail puller;
lever arm;
hacksaw;
wrenches / screwdrivers - if there are appropriate connections;
rubber or wooden mallet - it will minimize the risk of damaging parts of the wooden fence.

Working with supports

Be sure to repair a wooden fence begins with an examination of the pillars (supports) on which the entire structure is attached. Ignoring this recommendation, it is impossible to achieve a high quality of repair work and soon you will either have to replace the fence or once again carry out a full repair.

Metal supports

Even if the outwardly metal supports are not changed, but you know for sure that they were replaced a long time ago and the pillars are not concreted in the ground, you will have to devote time to them. To work, you need to prepare the following tool:

crowbar and shovel;
grinder or hacksaw;
metal brush to remove rust;
brush with hard bristles.

What is included in the concept of repair of metal supports:

The pillars are completely dug out of the ground.
The entire surface of the supports is cleaned of dirt, rust and old paint.
Prepared surfaces are painted.
The underground part of the metal supports of a wooden fence should be treated, in addition to paint, with bituminous mastic - this will extend their service life and prevent rust.

Important:if you want to provide additional protection for the above-ground part of the metal poles, then they can be treated with phosphoric acid or special protective compounds. Particular attention is paid to the joints, corners and holes.

Wooden poles

Most often, after digging out wooden supports, active decay of their underground part is noted. In this case, it must be cut off, and the remaining surface should be examined for rot / mold and part of the support should be cleaned. Ideally, the next step should be the complete drying of the wooden support, but this step can only be carried out if technical capabilities and time are available. You can resort to an accelerated procedure for processing a wooden pole: it is treated with a special antiseptic, then covered with bitumen and painted.

If, after removing the rotten underground part, the wooden support has become much shorter and no longer fits the fence, then you can build up boards on the bottom of the post. Only pre-boards should be treated with an antiseptic, protective compounds and bitumen. Some masters recommend wrapping the base with roofing material: this is acceptable, but not the best option.

Some craftsmen treat wooden supports with fire - they char them with a blowtorch, thereby protecting them from decay. This process is quite laborious and requires certain skills, so it is advisable to resort to the help of special liquids - it may be more expensive, but it is more reliable and faster in terms of processing time.

Before you start working with wooden supports, prepare the tool:

hacksaw or chainsaw;
sharp knife;
hammer;
paint brush.

Asbestos-cement pipes

They are often used to install a wooden fence, despite the fact that asbestos cement is the least practical material compared to wood and metal. If any damage is found on the supports made of asbestos-cement pipes, then it is better to replace them immediately - repairs are impractical.

When installing the material in question as a support for a wooden fence, you must immediately equip them with top plugs - this will prevent water from entering the pipe.

Vein repair

Before proceeding with the repair of fence sections, check the condition of the veins (crossbeams). This is the second most important bearing element, which must be strong and reliable. Their task is to transfer the load to the fence posts.

As horizontal veins, wooden beams are most often used (less often, metal). Wooden veins are not very strong, with strong gusts of wind they can break or even “fly away” along with the sections attached to them.

To connect damaged wooden beams, you can use a piece of thin-walled metal pipe as a coupling.

Note that since the crossbars do not come into contact with the ground, they do not have to be treated with waterproofing solutions.

Repair of wooden fence sections

After the work with the supports is completed, you can begin to repair the sections of the wooden fence. But before dismantling them, either number each section with a marker, or draw the sequence of their location on a piece of paper. The fact is that very rarely the same distance is maintained between all the supports, and the number of boards in the sections can be different. Pre-recording the location of the wooden fence sections will help to quickly install them after repair.

Repair of sections is carried out in the following sequence:

After completing the above steps, it remains to repair the metal fasteners. It is advisable to make a complete replacement of rusty and loose bolts, nails, screws and screws. But if this is not possible (for example, the boards in a wooden fence are too narrow and may crack when trying to replace metal fasteners), then do the following:

Carefully drive the nails into the boards with a wooden or rubber mallet until they stop.
Screws and screws are tightened in all possible places.

If the screws and screws are too damaged by rust, then they must first be treated with special solutions that can facilitate the process of unscrewing / tightening metal fasteners.

Note:nails should always be hammered strictly perpendicular to the wooden surface, and their hats should never be completely sunk into the tree - this will damage the wood.

The final stage of repairing sections of a wooden fence with your own hands is the final processing. Wood can and should be treated with an antiseptic, stain, impregnation or varnish - any composition that will protect the material from decay, accumulation of insects and moisture will do. The easiest way to treat wood is to prime it and cover it with a decorative layer of paint.

Important:when processing sections of a wooden fence with a finish coat, the product should be applied twice at the intersections of the logs and boards, the location of the fasteners.

Some design fantasies do not involve painting wood for fencing, but in this case, all metal parts must be treated with an anti-corrosion agent. Oil-based home remedies are categorically not suitable for this - they are ineffective and may have too short-term effect.

Do-it-yourself wooden fence installation

The final stage of the described process is the installation of the fence. This is a simple job, but a problem may arise - a mismatch between the span and the length of the section, which often happens when replacing wooden slats and logs. If this happens, then you will have to add the missing lag length and it is better to do this with a metal plate.

After the complete installation of a wooden fence with your own hands, it is necessary to once again treat with paint or an antiseptic agent the joints of the section to the supports.

As a result, you should get something like this design:

Repairing a wooden fence with your own hands is troublesome, but not difficult. With a minimum set of tools and little experience in carrying out any repair / construction work at all, the result will be positive.

From this article you will learn how to carry out the maintenance of a wooden fence. We will tell you what tools and materials you will need for this, give advice on repairing and replacing supports of various types. Consider the features of drying, painting and installation of fence sections.

Dismantling of fence sections

The first step in the repair of any wooden fence is the complete dismantling of its sections along with the cross-beams. At the same time, for fences made of horizontally arranged boards, it may be necessary to remove each element separately.

Attention! You should not try to carry out repairs “on the fly”, without dismantling, since this loses many opportunities for replacing and repairing fence supports, and also makes it difficult to access the lower part and the junctions of sections and supports.

Tools needed for dismantling:

nail puller;
lever arm;
hammer (preferably wooden or rubber - to minimize damage to the boards during removal);
hacksaw;
wrenches or screwdrivers (in case of screw connections).

Replacement or repair of supports (pillars)

Metal supports

If there are serious doubts about their condition (or the last overhaul of the fence was carried out a very long time ago), then the metal supports installed without pouring the underground part with concrete must be completely dug out of the ground, cleaned of rust, old paint residues and repainted. In addition to painting, it is desirable to protect the underground part of the column, if it is not concreted, by coating it with rubber-bitumen mastic.

Required tools:

shovel;
hacksaw or grinder;
plumb line to control verticality when installing supports;
hard brush or roller for coating;
metal brush to remove rust and old paint.

For additional processing of the above-ground part of metal poles (especially joints, corners and holes), orthophosphoric acid and special protective compounds are used.

wooden supports

The rotten part of the wooden pole is also cut off, all areas affected by rot, fungus, mold, moss, insects, etc. are carefully removed from the remaining part of it, then the entire pole is thoroughly dried, as far as time and technical capabilities allow.

If, after shortening, the length of the support has become insufficient, and it is not possible to completely replace the pole, then it can be increased by nailing pieces of boards of a suitable size thoroughly impregnated with an antiseptic from below on four sides.

After drying, the support itself is also coated with an antiseptic, impregnation, bitumen, etc., and, if desired, painted. You can also apply the burning (charring) of wood on a fire or with a blowtorch in order to protect it from decay.

Before drying, the upper part of the wooden support must be cut at an angle or “house”, and even better, protect it with a tin or plastic visor.

Tools:

hacksaw;
paint brush;
sharp knife;
hammer.

Supports from asbestos-cement pipes

Pillars made of asbestos-cement pipes, as the cheapest and most fragile, if a loss of strength is suspected, it is best to simply replace them. These supports are most afraid of thaws and the subsequent freezing of moisture in the pores, and painting is the only way to protect them.

Before installing such a support, it is advisable to close the upper and lower openings of the pipe with some kind of plug or visor to prevent moisture from entering inside.

Repair of fence sections

Supports and removed sections of a wooden fence must be numbered (spans between supports are almost never exactly the same length) so as not to complicate their re-installation. Then you need to carefully remove with a knife and a chisel all the rotten parts of the wood, and also replace those boards or pickets that cannot be restored. The upper and lower ends of the boards are especially affected by moisture: in advanced cases, it is best to cut them off completely, thereby slightly reducing the height of the fence.

As with the supports, the top ends of the boards are best cut at a sharp angle or "house". Rust must be removed from metal parts (fasteners and decorative elements) with a brush or solvent. Cracked logs and fence boards, if it is impossible to replace them, are fastened with nails (the most unreliable method), tightened with screws, metal wire or strips.

Drying sections of a wooden fence

Having previously removed all dust, dirt, old paint, etc. from the boards, the fence sections are set to dry. When cleaning fence boards, you can use a soft brush, abrasives (large emery), a spatula, and even a jet of water or air.

Direct sunlight and precipitation are contraindicated for any dried wood, so a well-ventilated shed or ventilated area is the best place to dry.

Fastening repair

After drying, the boards removed from the sections are replaced, and new pieces of wood of a suitable size are nailed or glued to the place of the cut sections.

Required tools:

hammer;
plane;
chisel.

Loose and corroded fasteners (hinges, nails, screws or screws) are best replaced completely. However, if the fence sections are made of too narrow or thin strips (pickets), then in order not to damage them further or split them, it would be better to carefully repair the old fasteners.

At the same time, nails must be carefully finished off, screws and screws must be tightened wherever possible, using wide washers so as not to damage the wood even more (there are special compounds for unscrewing rusted screws).

Attention! When repairing a fence, nails in all cases must be hammered perpendicular to the surface of the wood, without trying to sink their hats much so as not to damage the boards.

Finishing repaired fence sections

Dried and repaired sections of the fence can be completely treated with an antiseptic, impregnation, stain, varnish, any other selected composition to protect against insects, decay and moisture (or simply primed and painted). Particular attention should be paid to the attachment points, intersections and ends of the boards: here all procedures must be repeated at least twice.

If the wooden fence is not painted, then it is desirable to treat its metal parts with a special anti-corrosion compound. The use of various oil-based home remedies for this is ineffective and gives only a short-term effect.

Required tools:

thick and thin brush;
roller;
spray.

Final step: installation of the fence

After making sure that the vertical supports are securely installed, you can proceed with the installation of the repaired fence sections. To do this, you need the same tools as when dismantling it. The main possible problem here is the mismatch between the length of the section and the span between the supports, especially when replacing them. If you need to slightly increase the length of the lag, then instead of the board it is better to use a suitable piece of metal plate. And finally, the places where the supports and fence sections meet after installation must be additionally treated with paint and / or an antiseptic.