Cavity wall ties are the fixings used to bind the outside and inside walls of a property together.
All cavity wall built properties should have some form of wall tie. They are usually made of metal and are installed into the mortar joints between the block work during the original construction process. Over the years the design and build of wall ties has changed in order to make them more durable and easier to install.
At Prokil, we offer cavity wall tie repair and replacement for both domestic and commercial properties. This is to ensure that your home remains structurally strong.
Why Do Cavity Wall Ties Need To Be Replaced?
As with any metal product, cavity wall ties will deteriorate over the years and eventually cavity wall tie replacement will be required. Stainless steel cavity wall ties are installed as standard in new houses built today but this wasn’t always the case.
Historically, they were made from ferrous materials and not protected with a galvanised or other suitable coating. As moisture from the air comes into contact with the ties they start to corrode. Any property which is located on or close to a coastal area will have an increase in the level of salt in the air, which acts as a catalyst and speeds up the rusting process. If cavity wall tie replacement is not undergone when required, eventually your cavity wall ties will fail completely.
If failed or failing ties are not replaced, they can cause severe structural problems and even for walls to collapse entirely. Initially as they rust they expand, pushing the bricks in the wall apart from each other. As the process goes on, the wall ties eventually break and the inner and outer walls are no longer held together. As single skin walls are not strong enough to hold themselves up on their own, they are left vulnerable to movement, particularly when the weight of the roof may be resting on them.
Cavity wall tie replacement is a relatively straight forward process. Initially one of our specialist surveyors will attend your property and locate the wall ties. A small hole is then made in order to insert an endoscope to fully ascertain their condition. Those cavity wall ties which need to be replaced are noted and a report is provided.
Our cavity wall tie specialists then use this report to locate, isolate and or remove the existing ties where possible. We use different types of wall ties to replace those which have been removed, depending on the construction of the property.
After the cavity wall ties have been replaced mortar of best match is used to repair the walls as required and the sites are cleared and tidied.
