Erected more than 80 years ago, this heritage wall was the original turnstile entry to a fairground that later became a cricket ground. Decades of vehicle impacts, cricket ball strikes, and weathering had left the wall full of cracks. Inner West Council deemed it unsafe.

Inner West Council needed a fix that preserved the wall — not one that required knocking it down and rebuilding. The wall held local heritage significance, and the façade had to remain intact.

Beyond the visible crack damage, the structural assessment revealed a deeper problem. Steel reinforcements had been added years earlier in an attempt to stabilise the wall. Over time, the steel corroded and expanded inside the masonry — lifting and distorting the brickwork from the inside out. The fix was accelerating the damage.

Tree roots from mature trees nearby had also shifted the foundation, opening cracks through the heritage brickwork. The wall needed stabilising from the ground up — without disturbing the trees or the heritage façade.

The corroded steel reinforcements were removed first — they were doing more harm than good. HelicalBar™ stainless steel masonry reinforcement bars replaced them, bonded into the mortar joints to reconnect the cracked sections permanently.

Large sections of the wall were completely repointed — decades-old cement and lime mortar raked out and replaced with fresh mortar matched to the heritage profile. GeoPoly™ resin was injected into the ground beneath the wall to stabilise the foundation where tree roots had caused movement.

The repair saved Inner West Council over $30,000 compared to knocking the wall down and rebuilding it. The heritage façade remains intact — the wall looks exactly as it has for 80 years, minus the cracks.

The mature trees that caused the root damage were left in place. Their roots had fully grown — no further movement expected. The wall stands firm and is no longer at risk. Dealing with structural wall cracks? A free assessment explains the cause and what crack stitching can do.