A little on the Commercial side of things.

[Peter C. Russell]

Yes it does, thanks.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Back at the Book store project, the exterior walls are done for the areas of the brick veneer and the masons are mobilizing.
The end of the week should show some progress to brick samples, approvals and finally laying brick before the cold sets in.

The Architectural design for this wall section believe it or not did not show any wind and moisture retarder. I spoke up and they settled for a #30 felt for a building wrap and a 2" syrofoam R-10 on top of that and a 2" cavity. At least they got the 2" cavity right, although code will allow a min. of 1", but not recommended by the Brick Institute. I guess the Code is exactly that, (minimum)

Attachment 15408

Marcel

[Peter C. Russell]

Marcel, if the siding is going to be brick can you show us how it will be fastened to the exterior wall.

I'm wondering because this has been a point of failure in the past. I inspected a apartment building and the facade was collapsing, seems the mason used plumbers hanging iron which was embedded into the mortar and the screwed into the siding.

After 30+ years the hanging iron rotted out and the facade started to collapse

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Hi. Peter;

I will take a picture of the real thing, because I can not find the picture or link to back it up.

Thanks for asking.

Marcel

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Things are getting pretty hectic here now at the BookStore Project.

Roofers are trying to seal the flat part of the roof, Brick Masons are mobilizing, and the framing crew hurrying to complete the exterior framing.


Attachment 15453
Steel stud attachment to steel beams, using deflection clips.

Attachment 15454
Now these are real studs guys, ha. ha. 14 gage c-studs with a 3" face, total height of 24 feet, with mid attachment with deflection clips.

Attachment 15455
12" o.c. spacing for denseglass sheathing, 1" vertical furring fire rated and clapboard siding all coming later.

Attachment 15456
Ariel view from the roof of the existing building, man I could have stayed up there all day, what a view of the city.

Attachment 15457
This one is for Peter, and I got a jump start sample to show.

These are the ties we will be using. Stainless steel adjustable with prongs that penetrate the 2" Styrofoam and the 5/8" dense glass sheathing and then screwed to the metal studs in this case 16 gage, with stainless steel self drilling screws.
Pattern required will be 16" vertical and 16" horizontal.
Total height of brick veneer will be 25'. Close to the limit where a relieving angle would be required.




Marcel
</IMG>

[Peter C. Russell]

Wow, Marcel thanks for the photo, I have always wondered how a better brick attachment could be done and now I've seen it.

Is this something that would be used in residential as well?

Thanks for posting, just learned something new today!

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Yes it could Peter;

What is not shown in the picture is the #30 felt that will be installed on the dense glass and the fact that the cavity will be or is 2".
That is recommended by the Brick Institute, but Code will allow for 1".

Problem for Residential if a foundation is required, they try to skimp with these skeleton walls that are only 8" thick.

Brick veneer on residential with a minimum of 1" cavity, you need at least a 10" thick wall for traditional framing.

For residential, I would prefer to use the same ties as the post above without the prongs and screwed directly on the felt paper.
The spacing would then be 16" vertical and 24" o.c. for 2' framing or opposite for 16" framing.
If such a luxury would exist with a 12" foundation, then a styrofoam on the exterior could also be added and would fit in between the ties. The four foot styrofoam sheets are scored for that purpose.

There are numerous design possibilities with brick veneers, and all depends how the designer wishes to approach it. Like everything else, some are better than others, and in 40 + years you get to see a lot of good, bad, and the ugly in design work. I like to follow the ones that work and proven over the years. ha. ha.

Marcel

[Peter C. Russell]

Marcel, would the 1" cavity act as a drainage plane and is that why 30lb felt paper is used.

I have seen some new application where regular building paper is used as a air barrier and then 30 felt paper is used as a water barrier. Old building practices mixed in with the new.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Peter;

Honestly, I believe the old and the new is a waste of time and money.
It should be one or the other and both perform as well under normal circumstances. (Which is not always the case)

Air barrier materials are defined by their air permeance. To be defined as a air barrier material the air permeance must be equal to or less than 0.02L/(s•m2) @ 75Pa (0.004 cfm/ft2 @ 1.57 psf) when tested in accordance with ASTM E2178. Keep in mind that air permeance is the amount of air that migrates through materials and not through holes or gaps.

The shell of a house serves as the first line of defense between the occupants and the outdoor environment. Walls function as a weather barrier, nail base for finish materials and an energy conserving boundary. A sensible wall system is durable. And this requires all components in a wall assembly to be compatible for the long haul.

Siding, siding finishes, housewraps, insulation and wall frames must work together while achieving distinctive goals. So it is in this light that we should view a primary, but often overlooked, component in residential wall systems: weather-resisting wall wraps.

One tested value that actually can be compared between brands of housewrap is vapor permeance, which is usually tested according to ASTM E 96, with the results expressed in perms.
The higher the value, the more permeable the material. (A material with a perm rating of 1 or less is considered a vapor barrier.) Unfortunately, the wide spread in perm ratings among brands -- from 5 perms to over 200 perms -- makes it a little difficult to assess the importance of this number. The codes require wall wraps to match or exceed Grade D building paper, which has a minimum perm value of 5.

To complicate things, the permeance of felt paper is a moving target. Felt paper absorbs water and ranges from a low of around 5 perms when it's dry to over 60 perms when it's exposed to relative humidity above 95%. The perm values of engineered wall wraps, however, are moisture-stable.

Although high permeance is generally desirable in a wrap, excessively high ratings are not as important as resistance to air and water.

The cavity of a brick veneer is actually designed as a drainage plane, and when subjected to positive pressures and negative pressures inside the house, the #15 felt will perform better than today's house wraps. ASTM proved that.


Hope this helps.

Marcel

</IMG></IMG>

[Peter C. Russell]

Good info Marcel, my brother Al and I learned most of this in our building science class.

I just wish more of this info. would make it into the residential market so what we build today will not have a life expectancy of 20-30 years as most new homes do now.

I find it funny that we put 30 year shingle on new houses that will more than likely have major water intrusion/ structural problems within the same time period.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

I agree with you Peter and am glad that you guys at least know of this type of system, and it is unfortunate, like you said that not more of these residential builders are not up to speed on some of this to provide a better product for the biggest investment they will ever make.

Man, I sound like a salesman here. ha. ha.

You know what I mean. ha.

Marcel

[Marcel R. Cyr]

The most important thing before the start of Masonry, FLASHING.

Attachment 15488 This is a base flashing installed with a drip copper set in mastic. It provides the face shield wash and diverts the water

Attachment 15489 Sample of the brick tie.

Attachment 15490 Installation of the counter flashing using a 3 oz. copper fabric flashing set in mastic with a termination bar.

Attachment 15491 Next step is to add the #30 lb felt paper over all the flashing work. This provides the part wind barrier and drainage plane for the brick cavity.

Attachment 15492 The final step, add the 2" 250 formula Styrofoam which is an R- 10 and the prong brick ties on a membrane gasket to prevent water or moisture intrusion through the galvanized metal stud screws. These screws also have a neoprene washer hex head.

And that is the way it is. (in most places) ha. ha.

Hope some enjoy this.

Marcel

Marcel
</IMG></IMG></IMG></IMG>

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Continuing saga of building a Bookstore, ha. ha.

Attachment 15585

Roofers hard at work here installing a taperd insulation EPDM roof fully adhered, and here you see one applying adhesive for the celotex board on which the .060 membrane will be adhered too.

Attachment 15586

Birds eye view of the roof system going in while I enjoy the view from a different perspective. ha. ha.

Attachment 15587

Ahh, sh$t. when I took this picture, I noticed that my slab on the second floor is a foot to short. The metal stud that you see is where the curtain wall system is going to be from basement to roof. Should have been 1&1/2" away and not one foot. Found the problem and the Structural Engineer made a 1' error on deminsions given to the Structural Fabricator on an RFI three months ago. Glad it was not my mistake.

Ahh well, they will come up with a stupid fix again. ha. ha.

To the right of the picture, you can see that the staging is up for the masonry, drainage plane felt, styrofoam insulation, and brick ties installed and ready to start.

Attachment 15588

Here is the brick sample that was made for approval.
The top three course, the mortar joints were tooled and the bottom of the panel the joints where struck.

The tooled joint was chosen.

Attachment 15589

Here the first course is laid and the weep holes are installed.
I pulled one out for all to view when I took the picture. These things are pretty cool.
What you don't see yet is the mortar net that will be used in the cavity to keep the weep holes clear of mortar. This project has a 2" cavity which helps this situation.

Hope some enjoy.

Marcel

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Well, the masonry has started on a cold morning, 32 degrees and climbing and sure feels cold. We have now started using hot water in the mortar mix to help set up quicker.
Here are a few pics to show the mortar net being used in the cavity and the bricklaying start.

Attachment 15644

Attachment 15645

Attachment 15646

Here you see the mortar net installed in the cavity and a reminder that this is a 2" cavity and the mortar net assures to keep the weep holes at the bottom clear of mortar droppings.

A short not to remember is the fact that residential markets usually provide a 1" cavity also and a mortar net can still be used.
Unfortunately, even with a mortar net a 1" cavity could or may still get clogged up.
Years ago I used a cavity board on strings so one could pull it up and clean the cavity of mortar droppings. This was a pain in the butt and not too many did it unless there was an inspector clerk of the works behind them to watch and monitor.

How do you check for a functioning brick weep hole?
There are three types of weeps;

Braided rope
plastic tubing
Poly butt inserts of different configurations.

The fourth one would be a drilled hole where a mason came after the fact and drilled right through the counter flashing. ha. ha.

This is not something a HI would be expected to do and showed be recommend to a Masonry Contractor. It involves invasive procedures very minor, but above our SOP.

Hope some enjoy.

Marcel
</IMG></IMG>

[arussell]

Interesting stuff Marcel.
It's nice to see how the commercial end of the business does things.
As Peter said earlier it would be nice if some of the knowledge/technology could make it into the residential arena but I believe it can't mostly due to the cost factor either the products are too costly or the subs would charge so much you can't afford to do it.

alan