Hi There, mortar at front of house near garage has fallen away revealing broken damp course orange plastic. I can see the felt underneath it. How do I repair the damp course and mortar repair?
Hi @shanifischer,
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.
The dampcourse is a separate, plastic material that you can see running along the first horizontal mortar line above the concrete slab. It is there to prevent moisture from transferring up through the brick and mortar, into the bricks higher in the wall, which can cause issues over time. It appears to be fully intact, so you have no need to worry about your dampcourse.
The orange plastic is a vapour barrier that sits underneath your concrete slab and wraps around the slab edge to the height of the finished ground. It prevents ground water from rising up through the slab. It will still be doing what it is meant to do beneath your slab and on the edge where it is covered by the concrete apron. It seems to be fully intact up to the height of the finished ground, so realistically, there isn't really anything to worry about.
If you were concerned, you could always tidy up the area, trim off any jagged or excess orange plastic, remove any loose mortar and then cover the gaps and orange plastic with a thick bead of Grey Sikaflex 11FC Purform. This would be mainly for aesthetics, but it would still help prevent water from coming into contact with the slab edge.
Ultimately, I don't think you really have anything to worry about, but you can certainly improve the look if you'd like to.
Allow me to tag @Nailbag to see what he thinks.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Jacob
thanks @JacobZ thays great news. After I trim and remove old mortar, can I use the recommended sikaflex over the felt layer? Once this dries do I then mortar over that or does the sikaflex replace the bottom mortar layer?
I think I might have been mistaken. Upon further research, I believe that it could be a termite barrier known as Kordon, with the "felt" layer being a synthetic webbing that is treated with a pyrethroid. Considering this, I would recommend you speak with a pest control company who have experience with this product. They may have a method to retroactively repair a damaged barrier, but I can't say I am aware of it.
After repair, you may be able to cover it as I mentioned, however I would double check this with them. If they are happy for you to proceed, the Sikaflex would replace the mortar layer.
