Weedkillers don't have much effect on ivy as the leaves have a waxy coating. You can cut off the stems at the base and treat the stumps with any of the stump killers at the GC (Roundup do one). Then you will have to pull all the ivy off the wall by hand - hard work but strangely satisfying!

thats exactly what we had do. and as land girl says satisfying.

If Noseypotter doesn't see this question send him a Private Message. He fought exactly this problem for a long time and has finally won.Also follow the above advice- saw through all the stems you can find at ground level and treat with SBK or similar. The top growth will gradually die and when its quite dry (this takes some time) it will pull off easily. Makes excellent firelighters!

We had ivy growing all over a garage wall when we moved in. It was even growing under the roof tiles. We cut it off at the base of each contact with the ground and left it to wilt (took 3 months because of aerial root feeding) and then slowly but surely managed to pull it away from the brick work- ivy doesn't damage brickwork unless there are holes in the joints already. The only problem is that the pesky little roots leave traces behind that are unsghtly. A wire brush doesn't seem to help. As far as the root go we were able to dig the roots out. If there are remains then vigilance is needed to pull out new shoots.

to lift the ivy off the brick work we used paint scrapers. useful little tools.

I use a half moon lawn edging tool to separate ivy from a wall.

I too have a lot of ivy, mostly growing 20 ft along the top of a fence which I'm thinking of clearing.
When dead, will it come off timber as well as it seems to off brick ? Or will it look unsightly for ever ?

our wooden fence has the signs of the ivy still but oh insists when he retreats the wood this spring it will be ok. so yes Hank you can see the ghost of the ivy on the timber.

Thanks S.G. - I'll tackle it once it's fit to venture outside