Brick & stone exterior walls

[David C. Macy]

I recently attended a seminar on Brick & stone exterior walls and was amazed at the issues with improper installation.

This seminar opened my eyes to this topic as the instructor is a 20+ year inspector and does a lot of litigation and diagnosing problems and repair solutions to brick & stone exterior walls.

The problem is the lack of flashings & weeps and improper air space.

The cost of repair and litigation is very expensive.

He offered a copy of the slide show on CD for $40. I may spend the money as the reference material was very good.

If there are any inspectors out there that are experts in this field any discussion would be appreciated.

The next day after the seminar I inspected a 2004 home with brick veneer and there were no flashings and only one wall had visible weeps and there was evidence of moisture at the interior window with no flashing installed.

Thanks

[Bob Elliott]

Hi David...It is also hard to confirm if there is a moisture barrier.and how far it goes.
Learn any tricks?

[David C. Macy]

Yes

CYA

It is hard to remember all he said as my head was spinning. This inspector new his material.

One thing I remember is that they will improperly poure a concrete pad covering the weeps.

If I get the CD I can share the information.

Dave

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Originally Posted by dmacy

IThe next day after the seminar I inspected a 2004 home with brick veneer and there were no flashings and only one wall had visible weeps and there was evidence of moisture at the interior window with no flashing installed.

Thanks

David, could I ask how you were able to verify that there was no flashing at the base of the foundation and window.
I am curious.

Marcel
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[Carl A. Brown]

It must have been those darn self flashing windows!

If the minimum a moisture barrier ie; tarpaper can over lap is 2 inches how can a window with an inch and one eight flange be called self flashing?


How for the longest did dupont feel it was right to pull tyvek in at the head of a window instead of out over the flange or flashing? And the seem to set the industry standards with house wrap installation specs?

Then again it might be like this brick house!

http://www.badstucco.com/bricks/bricks.html



And the city codes official I called when I took the pictures would not do a thing!

[Carl A. Brown]

Were the windows improperly installed due to the lack of backer rod and sealant between them and the brick?

As per most window mfgrs. specs!

Reguardless of what kind of cladding is on the structure.

[David C. Macy]

Originally Posted by mcyr

David, could I ask how you were able to verify that there was no flashing at the base of the foundation and window.
I am curious.

Marcel
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I wasnt able to verify the flashings. I am in no way educated enough on this subject to answer your question. The instructor at the seminar had stated about how to check for flashings and he used a special tool to inspect the lower flashing at the wall by the foundation.

He is located in southern Ohio and he said most homes built before 2005 in his area are not done correctly. It seems he has trained the builders to properly install the walls as they are tired of being involved in litigation.

The information was a lot to digest and I am trying to purchase his CD to review the material.

[David C. Macy]

This is one of the flashings that he spoke about that needs to be inspected that he made a special probe to verify the prescence of.

The illistration is to show the detail of the flashing and is not intended for illistrating the support as the title states.

I also attached a link for the carson & dunlop reports pertaing to the flashing.

http://www.carsondunlop.com/OBS/brick.htm

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Glad to see you enjoyed the seminar, David.

I sure would like to see that probe you are talking about, or what it looks like.

Given the fact that the base counter flashing is either visible or not, the only access you may have are weep holes. Chances are if there are weep holes there is flashing.
When there are no weep holes and no sign of flashing, determining whether or not one was installed, could be difficult.

That is when I note what I see in my report and move on.

Good Luck.

Marcel
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