During the 19th Century, the benefit of building properties using two walls or skins side-by-side was realised.
The inner wall would continue to structurally support the property, while the outer wall could be used for weather-protection, preventing water from entering the property, and to provide the good looks of the building!
It was immediately realised that the two leaves would need to fixed or tied together to prevent the outer leaf from falling over and - together - providing additional structural strength for the property.
Throughout the years many methods of tying the walls together have been used:
- Bricks were originally used to bridge the cavity, but this allowed moisture to creep across the cavity, undermining the effectiveness of the weatherproofing.
- Wrought iron, and later galvanised steel, ties were later used, but these eventually rusted. You can see this in modern properties, where the rust has lifted the whole wall!
It is, therefore, sometimes the case where old wall ties are causing more issues than good and must be isolated or removed, and replaced.
In addition, while most modern wall ties eliminate many of the issues caused by old methods of building, it is occasionally the case that wall ties are installed incorrectly, to the wrong densities or even not at all! As a result, new wall ties must be installed.
Fortunately, it is quick and easy for our team to isolate old ties and install new wall ties using either Dri Flex or Retro Flex stainless steel wall ties.
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