Cavity ties are binders that hold the inner and outer leaf of the brick in one place. They are very important for the strength and stability of your structural walls. If you are someone who has cavity walls at your house but you are contemplating to postpone or ignore the need of replacing the cavity wall ties, it is quite understandable. Structural repairs such as wall toe replacement can be very taxing physically, mentally and financially. It is for this reason why many people let the problem linger on for a long time. This is, however, not advisable because loose wall ties could mean something fatal such as a wall collapsing.
One of the most important reasons why cavity ties need replacement is the ageing factor. Like any other thing, the wall ties also fail the test of time at some point in time and therefore require replacement. While most people are mentally prepared that their wall ties will require replacement at some point, a major chunk of them is unaware how to determine if a wall tie is damaged enough to be fixed. Here are a few reasons you should check to figure out if your wall ties need any replacement.
Structural Analysis
It is easy to get deceived by the neat and pretty outlook of your building’s exterior and believing that your property is still good to go. Unfortunately, a damaged wall tie can be too concealed to be detected by an amateur naked eye. This deception is common in cases where construction is done using old masonry and strong wall ties. Such structures look strong and stable despite being very aged. The correct condition of the structure can, therefore, be only be determined after a thorough structural analysis. In order to carry out a structural analysis, you may hire services of a professional agency such as actionwallties.co.uk. A professional structure analyst will carry out a thorough analysis and will see if the corrosion or damage is serious enough to require replacements.
Cracks
One of the major reasons why wall ties might require replacement is cracking. It is very common for cracks to appear in cavity walls, however, the reason of cracking may vary. Fortunately, cracks are easily visible to the naked eye and you can easily know that your building requires structural repair as soon as you spot any cracks in the cavity walls. Cracks can appear due to a number of reasons such as strength and weight of masonry, efficiency and strength of lintels and inability of the materials to withstand the constant process of expansion and contraction due to fluctuation in temperatures.
Corrosion and Rusting
Some materials such as steel have very poor resistance to environmental factors such as rain, and moisture. As a result, they undergo rusting and corrosion which might weaken their strength and ability to support the structure. Such cases will require wall tie replacements. If you feel your area has a high moisture or rainfall then it would be wiser to go for ties that have better resistance to these factors.