Making a brick wall shorter – how hard can it be?

MrsWCA wants the brick wall between our front garden and the road made lower. She wants it dropping by about 4 rows of bricks.

It is a single skin brick wall with a row of coping stones on top. There are Brick pillars every six feet or so that are 1.5 bricks on each edge.

Is this just a case of taking the coping stones off, running a disc cutter along the mortar at the appropriate height, removing the extra bricks and then cementing the coping stones back on?

1 – get a load of topsoil and fill up the garden with it.

or 2 – buy her one of those plastic blue steps from ikea

Wca , I can see a wca special coming on …. Tea and biscuits anyone !

I wouldn’t bother with a grinder, just chisel them off.

What br said. Take off the coping stones. Might need a tap with a hammer and chisel. Then work down from the top one brick at a time. The mortar should be weaker than the bricks.

Cold chisel. Knock em off one by one.

depends on how good your mortar is, I find if its strong then good luck getting them all off clean, otherwise be prepared for some make good when the fracture line goes its own way. running a deep cut with a grinder is like glass or tile cutting – creates a weak seam for it break along.

good luck getting them all off clean, otherwise be prepared for some make good when the fracture line goes its own way

That was my concern with just knocking the bricks off. Plus hammering the length of the wall to remove four layers of bricks one at a time seems like hard work.

Grinder along the motor either side to create the break point. Cut straight down to create a series of big blocks which get knocked out one by one. Might use the brick by brick method on the towers though.

Get an SDS+ drill with a chisel bit, it’ll be kinder than hammering the bricks off. Or avoid the cost and stitch drill the mortar. This way you can knock off the top four courses in one go.

Are we allowed to ask why your good lady wants the wall height lowering?

stitch drill the mortar. This way you can knock off the top four courses in one go

I have access to 12″ disc cutter which makes it a whole lot easier than stitch drilling but the plan is the same. Cut a line 4 bricks lower, a couple of vertical cuts so it comes down in manageable sized pieces and then lump hammer the big bits.

Are we allowed to ask why your good lady wants the wall height lowering?
I have only been with her for 24 years. I have yet to fathom how she thinks or why she decides things suddenly become essential.

Save the bricks in case the GL changes her mind when it’s done.

I have only been with her for 24 years. I have yet to fathom how she thinks or why she decides things suddenly become essential.
Oh god it goes on that long?

If you use the hammer and chisel method go in from the end and along rather than in from the side. This will hopefully prevent you knocking more off than you need too

I kind of thought it would be something like that. My good lady wants me to remove a 5ft rose hedge that is lethal if you touch it ( keeps the local yoofs off ) provides some much needed privacy with a bloody lavender hedge that will look good for about a month once a year standing about a ft high.

Bolster tho. Not cold chisel. And depending on the type age of the copers they may well snap.

Could you do it with some sort of industrial laser? I’m sure that it would be a lot more fun than using a disc cutter 8)

Or maybe a shaped explosive charge? 😯 If you have access to explosives, I’m sure that’s the way to go. 8)

I have only been with her for 24 years. I have yet to fathom how she thinks or why she decides things suddenly become essential.

it’s obvious, she wants you to get a man in so you have more time to go riding.

I have access to 12″ disc cutter

Mask and goggles, plus tape up your collars and cuffs, that’s one dusty mess you are about to get covered in!

I have yet to fathom how she thinks or why she decides things suddenly become essential

I call it my wife’s radar, once its locked on…….

book her on a diy course?
its obviously not a big job
we dont want another gruesome photo thread…(or do we)
did the conversation start with wouldnt it be good if…
do you think that… can you just … it wont take you long so …
have you in the distant past mentioned this wall height problem? if so only got yourself to blame so get going

Hammer, chisel & set to work man.
Grab a hose if your disc cuttering.

Does it involve ladders? I really hope it doesn’t involve ladders.