Stitching cracked walls with helical bars is the 'go-to' crack repair specification from many insurers, councils, and engineers. With increasing numbers of building professionals involved in such work, many turn to Twistfix for the best structural supplies at low trade prices.

How Crack Stitching Works.

Stitch across cracks in face brickwork by bonding stainless steel helical bars into slots cut into mortar beds. Then point the slot to conceal the masonry reinforcement.

Each hidden bar accumulates tensile forces and spreads the loads along the helix. Installing a series of bars creates a reinforced zone. The evenly dispersed loads minimise the risk of further cracking.

How to Fit Crack Stitching Products in Existing Walls.

• Remove mortar along selected bed joints at 300 to 450 mm vertical centres. Extend the slots 500mm on each side of the fracture. The depth of the slots should be 30 mm in single-leaf brickwork and 45 mm in a solid double-brick wall. The slot height must be at least 3mm larger than the bar diameter.
• Clear all debris from the slots and flush them with water.
• Mix WHO 60 grout and use it to fill each slot two-thirds deep.
• Push spiral rods into the grout and trowel the displaced mortar to fully enclose the helix.
• Where several cracks are in proximity, use longer bars to stitch across them all.
• Position the reinforcing bars at 300 to 450 mm intervals.
• Fill and seal the fracture to prevent water ingress and restore compressive strength. Repoint the slots.

Crack Stitching products are not limited to use in bed-joint reinforcement. Helical bars can be fitted directly into the brick units when repairing fractures in rendered walls to bind bricks together. Where there is no need to disguise the bars within the mortar, diagonal reinforcement or the use of heavier bars is viable where shear strength is an issue.

Crack stitching is quick, easy and reliable. Use our cost-effective helical bars to restore strength and stability to cracked walls.

Our UK-made helix-shaped rods are available in many diameters, lengths and pack sizes. The stainless steel bars provide superb strength and corrosion resistance. Rigorous tests show our bed joint reinforcement products meet and exceed the performance standard of BS EN 845-1. Installation of the bars requires the use of WHO 60 masonry repair grout. The gout is also available from Twistfix separately or in one of our crack stitching kits.

Product Specifications

• Stainless Steel Crack Stitching Rods.
  • Diameters: 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 mm.
  • Available Lengths: 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 metres and in 7 - metre coils.
  • Tensile strength: 1025 to 1225 N/mm ².
• Polymer-modified Bonding Grout.
  • Compressive Strength: 55 N/mm ².
  • Tensile Strength: 5 N/mm ².
  • Flexural Strength: 12 N/mm ².
  • Young's Modulus: 13 N/mm ².

As the UK market leader in supplying the best crack stitching products, Twistfix can offer expert technical advice. Order by phone or buy online for fast UK delivery.

• Crack Stitching Guide (PDF)
• Crack Stitching Specification (PDF)