Northern Ireland's specialist wall tie surveyor
Local wall tie survey across Northern Ireland
Clear answers about cavity wall ties: whether they have failed, how many, and what putting it right should involve.
- Proportionate & evidence-led
- Lender-ready reports
- Stainless steel remedial ties
Our specialism
Specialists in Wall tie surveys
Wall ties are the small metal strips or wires that bridge the gap between the outer and inner leaves of a cavity wall, holding the two skins of brick or block together. Older ties, especially those fitted before the 1980s, were often made of mild steel with a thin zinc coating, and over decades that coating wears away. Once rust takes hold, the tie swells inside the mortar joint and stops doing its job. A wall tie survey finds out what is going on inside the cavity: the specialist locates the ties, looks at a sample of them with a small camera and records their condition.
This booking suits Northern Ireland owners of cavity-built homes who have spotted repeating horizontal cracks, buyers whose home report mentions possible tie corrosion, and landlords wanting a clear record of a wall before planning repairs. You book the wall tie survey at a set price, and a local specialist will be in touch to confirm the visit.
When a wall may be telling you about its ties
- Horizontal cracks running along mortar beds, repeating every few courses up the wall
- An outer leaf that bows or bulges outwards when you sight along it
- Window or door heads that have started to crack or drop at the corners
- Roof edges or verges lifting slightly where the brickwork has grown taller
- A home report or mortgage valuer noting suspected wall tie failure
- A cavity-built house from before the 1980s on an exposed, wet or coastal site
Know the warning signs
Warning signs worth checking
Walls rarely fail without warning. If you have spotted any of these, a survey will tell you how serious it is.
What to look out for
- Horizontal cracking that tracks along a mortar bed joint, rather than diagonally
- A wall, or part of a wall, that looks like it is bulging or bowing outward
- Cracked or 'popped' brickwork at roughly the height where a wall tie sits
- Rust staining bleeding through render or brickwork in a regular, evenly spaced pattern
- A wall that feels loose, or makes a hollow sound, when gently tapped
- Your mortgage lender or surveyor has asked for a wall tie survey before completion
What causes wall tie corrosion in Northern Ireland?
Most homes across Northern Ireland built with cavity walls between the 1930s and 1980s were tied together with mild-steel or galvanised wire ties, not the stainless steel used today. The most common local triggers are:
- Age: mild-steel and wire ties typically corrode within 40 to 60 years of installation
- Coastal or exposed locations, where salt-laden air speeds up corrosion
- Poor original galvanising or ties bridging the cavity at the wrong fall, letting damp track along them
- Persistent damp in the cavity from blocked cavity trays, defective pointing or rendering faults
Why Wall Tie Survey NI
Diagnosis first, replacement second
Wall tie survey sounds alarming, but it's a well-understood, fixable problem once it's properly diagnosed. Cavity walls built from roughly the 1930s to the 1980s were tied together with mild-steel or wire ties that corrode over decades; as a corroding tie rusts it expands, which is what cracks the surrounding brick or render. The specialist confirms which ties have failed, how many need replacing, and puts it right without disturbing more of the wall than necessary.
Where bookings run
Where we work in Northern Ireland
We provide wall tie survey surveys and repairs to homeowners throughout Northern Ireland. Find your town below.
No pressure
Book a wall tie survey
Give the address and a few lines on the brickwork, and a specialist covering your area will confirm the visit at the set price.