Hi, we have a room underneath our house that was made by the previous owners but the outer wall has a large window sized insert of breeze bricks in it. We assume the room was used for a workshop. However we now want to make it a proper room and need to fill in the breeze bricks .
We are not experienced renovators and need simple guidance on the best way to fill these bricks.
Would expanding foam be suitable to fill as much of the gaps as possible, then sand it down flat and we could plaster over it all?
Again we want to do it ourselves but are not experienced. Thank you
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
The RealTruck AMP Research Bedsteps give you easy access to your truck-bed storage.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
I had to google “breeze bricks”…….
If it were me, I’d take a pc of plywood with visqueen stapled to it and temporary fasten it to the “brick” (visqueen toward brick). Other side I’d fill with mortar dry enough so it siding slump. Probably use concrete glue slathered on the sides of the breeze block.
If the mortar still sagged, do the same plywood w/visqueen on this side.
After it sets enough, remove ply and finish nice on the “show side”.
Thank you, this is helpful
What is the surrounding wall? I'm thinking if it's something like cmu (block) you could just knock them out and replace with whatever rest of the wall is made of.
The surrounding wall is solid brick so it's quite difficult to knock out the breeze brick which is in the middle of the wall, it's window height
First point - masonry is hard work, so expect that. Take your time and do it in stages.
You've got to get a whole lot of mortar in those holes. I would mix it really stiff and get the holes plugged. Grab a handful and stuff it in there. Then I'd come back and plaster each side smooth. Your idea of spray foam on on the inside is a good one.
A great resource to see how to do masonry is Mike Haduck's Youtube channel. I used to be a mason, and I still watch some of his videos if I'm tackling something new for DIY.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG7zK4DGlQk&ab_channel=MikeHaduckMasonry
Best of luck to you.
Thank you, that's good advice. I am now reconsidering masonry, as mentioned we are inexperienced .
Instead of foam in a can, you could also buy a piece of foam board, and cut just a bit larger than the holes and press to fit. The spray foam sticks to everything.
If this window is above ground, you also can decide to just cover it up on the outside.
There are at least 14 ways to do this.
Where are you located? If you want to post a couple photos, you might get a few more suggestions.
This is helpful thank you. You are right we could just put up plaster board or ply to make a wall over it. However would need to do it on the inside as we want it to be a solid wall to look like a room.
Changing a vented basement workshop to an occupied space takes some research and planning to avoid building a moldy mess.
Anything you attach directly to the block wall needs to be suitable for moisture contact. (moisture will flow from rain and soil moisture through the masonry) Regular plywood and drywall are not suitable for this use. You could use treated plywood.
Are you planning to just leave the block wall and use this for storage, or do you plan to finish the basement so it is suitable for living in?