# Forum Home Renovation Brickwork  Dirt up against brick veneer wall?

## HouseOB

Hi all, 
Is it normal to have dirt up against the bricks between the strip footings and floor level?  Basically we want to concrete outside of the house, just below the indoor floor level.  The dirt would go to a height of ~400m, then the concrete on top of that. 
Would you just use the normal bricks a retaining wall and have appropriate drainage?  What about ventillation holes? (There are plenty of other places around the house for those really).

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## johnc

You have to make sure you don't create a moisture problem by extending the dirt above the damp course. If the outside perimiter is also bricked and the earth is simply fill it shouldn't cause any grief. If you are building up earth and just concreting to height you may well cause problems with your brickwork. Ventilation and weep holes are important but you have given to little information to go on.

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## HouseOB

Here is an image for some more detail.  So strip footings with brick veneer wall, concrete stumps under the floor.    The inside floor will be something like yellowtongue + tile underlay + tiles.  The outside floor will be concrete + pavers on top of the dirt.  We want the outside pavers to be as close to level with the inside floor as allowed, or maybe just 1 course lower to be a bit safer with water. 
Also this will be along roughly a 6 metre span of wall.  The rest of the house will be clear for ventillation. 
If this isn't possible what are my other options? A suspended floor outside for pavers?

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## Uncle Bob

Termite entry can be an issue too (if you in an affected area). 
Looks like a great excuse for a deck  :Smilie:

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## HouseOB

We want to avoid a deck if possible, going for that low-maintenance build :P 
What if you did a concrete retaining wall beside the bricks, would that solve the termite issue?  Then you just need to handle drainage?  
I guess a viable alternative might be to have the retaining wall 1 metre away from the bricks, and a suspended floor between that and the brickwork?

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## HouseOB

Could possibly do something like attached.  Retaining wall 1m out with joists between the retaining wall and brick for tiles on top, would help with drainage not being up against the house.  If necessary I suppose you could use steel joists for the termites, but that might be over-kill. 
You could actually just do a suspended slab over that 1 meter span couldn't you?

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## johnc

A moisture barrier against the wall with a rubble or similar drainage set up would also work. I wouldn't have soil in contact with the bricks.

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## goldie1

> Could possibly do something like attached. Retaining wall 1m out with joists between the retaining wall and brick for tiles on top, would help with drainage not being up against the house. If necessary I suppose you could use steel joists for the termites, but that might be over-kill. 
> You could actually just do a suspended slab over that 1 meter span couldn't you?

  The problem with having a void like this is you have no way of inspecting for termites.  They could 
build their mud tunnels up the outside of your house brick wall and be into your floor with out you 
knowing they are there.

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## HouseOB

Isn't access to under the house good enough? Since you will be able to go all the way up to that area?  How often do people really check for termites?

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## intertd6

> Hi all, 
> Is it normal to have dirt up against the bricks between the strip footings and floor level?  Basically we want to concrete outside of the house, just below the indoor floor level.  The dirt would go to a height of ~400m, then the concrete on top of that. 
> Would you just use the normal bricks a retaining wall and have appropriate drainage?  What about ventillation holes? (There are plenty of other places around the house for those really).

   It can be done, you have to make allowances for termite protection barriers, extending the DPC barrier, engaged piers, sub floor ventilation calculations & sand backfill.
regards inter

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## Wombat2

Why not Spandeck (suspended slab) the lot - leave crawl space under for inspections and ventilation. Save the work of filling and compacting and probably work out about the same price.

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## HouseOB

The reason I didn't want suspended there is that I may need to get a bobcat or similar over that area at some point =/

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## Wombat2

Properly built suspended slab should be just as strong as a slab on ground

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## HouseOB

The problem we have is limited access to an area where we eventually want to put a fibreglass pool in, and I think they weigh 500kg or so.  We are also surrounded by powerlines so a crane might not be feasible, so they may need to use some other method and will put quite a bit of weight on the suspended slab.

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## HouseOB

What about having a retaining wall (with appropriate drainage) a 20mm + gap from the house, as shown in the attached image? 
- Is it feasible using the same post holes to hole 2 posts (1 for the house stump, 1 for the retaining wall stump)? 
- Any issues with a 20mm+ gap under the Masterwall?  It would probably have their plastic capping at the bottom of it. 
- Would the gap look strange? 
Is it enough for termite inspections?  Otherwise there will be access to the underhouse anyway.

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## intertd6

> What about having a retaining wall (with appropriate drainage) a 20mm + gap from the house, as shown in the attached image? 
> - Is it feasible using the same post holes to hole 2 posts (1 for the house stump, 1 for the retaining wall stump)? 
> - Any issues with a 20mm+ gap under the Masterwall?  It would probably have their plastic capping at the bottom of it. 
> - Would the gap look strange? 
> Is it enough for termite inspections?  Otherwise there will be access to the underhouse anyway.

  1. No
2. Needs to be 75mm for inspection or no gap with termite barrier sparged onto top of slab
3. Yes it would.
regards inter

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## HouseOB

Hmm, am I misunderstanding something?   
- From what I have read, you only need 400mm clearance/access under the bearers for termite inspection, I shouldn't need a 75mm gap out side as well.  The 75mm is only for things like underhouse slabs that do not have a protective coating around the edge, in which case you must leave 75mm exposed. 
- The outdoor slab won't have any timber on it, so it shouldn't need a termite barrier?

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## HouseOB

If we use termite treated timber in the extension, then that would solve the termite issue I guess?

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