Brick go boom???

[ccarrington]

Guys,

I need a few opinions. This photo is of new construction, of slab on grade foundation, and brick veneer wall.

Photo 1 shows what appears to be the brick is not properly aligned to the foundation. There is about ½ inches of setback on the front/right side, and about 3/8 to ½ inches of brick overshoot of the left side exposure.

Photo 2 shows a measurement I took. The 2x4 is flush against the brick veneer’s face, and indicates the brick actually overhang the slab by 1 ½ inches. These bricks are only 2 ¾ inches thick! If you look closely, it appears that the brick layers backslopped mortar onto the foundation at the underside of the brick to attempt to provide stability of the wall, and to make it look smoother.

I don’t believe the mortar will provide the wall any structural stability, and I feel this increases the stress at the slab’s edge considerably, as nearly ½ of the wall’s weight is actually overhanging the slab foundation. I feel this will likely led to the edge of the slab possibly sheering or spalling off, causing possible destabilization / loss of the wall.

Do you guys all concur with this opinion? I’m recommending the client have a brick layer come and evaluate this situation for structural stability and quality of the work.

Thanks

[Gerry Beaumont]

Hi to all,

Cortland, you are correct to questin that set up as the brickwork should not be corbelled that far out from the slab.

Regards

Gerry

[Gerry Beaumont]

BTW,

here is the relavent IRC code

606.3 Corbeled masonry.
Solid masonry units shall be used for corbeling. The maximum corbeled projection beyond the face of the wall shall not be more than one-half of the wall thickness or one-half the wythe thickness for hollow walls; the maximum projection of one unit shall not exceed one-half the height of the unit or one-third the thickness at right angles to the wall. The top course of corbels shall be a header course when the corbeled masonry is used to support floor or roof-framing members.

606.3.1 Support conditions.
Cavity wall or masonry veneer construction may be supported on an 8-inch (203 mm) foundation wall, provided the 8-inch (203 mm) wall is corbeled with solid masonry to the width of the wall system above. The total horizontal projection of the corbel shall not exceed 2 inches (51 mm) with individual corbels projecting not more than one-third the thickness of the unit or one-half the height of the unit. The top course of all corbels shall be a header course.

Gerry

[ccarrington]

Thank you Gerry,

I was pretty sure I was interpreting the code correctly; I just wanted a second opinion before I wrote my report.

Best Regards

[jlybolt]

Maybe this pic will help. Several months back I had a similiar issue where the brick overhanged the slab. Someone on this site posted the pic. It recommends a max. of 1"
Good luck, hope the pic helps.

[Rick J. Hinck]

Cortland,

Please let all know the results of your critizism of this. I could write this up on almost every brick veneer I inspect. Maybe its just my area. I look forward to hearing from you if there was any fallout.


Rick

[Kevin R. Weiss]

I see this slightly more than occassionally on new homes as well. How generally it is less than 1". How would you guys recommend writing this up?

[ccarrington]

Update:

The builder told my client that he can pretty much corbel bricks as far as he feels he needs to, and that I must be dumb to not know this. The funny thing is that the City building inspector agreed with him… Hummm… must be golfing buddies…

My client called me for advice about what to do at this point... I advised my client to get a second opinion about it, and to ensure this opinion is in writing. I reminded him that, I still feel that his wall is likely corbelled to a point that it may be a problem 3 to ? years down the road. It’s hard to say because its new construction, and you can’t precisely predict what factors may lead to problems, such as minor settlement of the foundation. I also mentioned that he should get the builder to commit the “I can corbel to any distance I want” comment into writing, and if the builder shows any hesitation about doing so for my client it, will speak volumes of his business ethics.

I have had this issue arise many times, and the result was the builder said it was OK, but the code beggs to differ.
Stick to the code.

[ccarrington]

Update,

My client and the builder agree that it's good enough for them to be happy. That's fine with me, because I raised the issue, and recommended a mason evaluate it and put his opinion in writing, and that makes any claim they lodge against me extremely defendable.

Thanks for the input guys.

[David A. Andersen]

There you go! Just record it and move on!

[tmantsch]

It's plain ugly.

GRAND HOMES new construction seem to have this new design- corbelling the corners at the bottom 6 or so layers.
It seems to confuse the bricklayers and it turns out looking like a patch job
at the veneer to foundation junction. They typically use a different mortor/ cement patch mix at this point....ugly.
The offsets at the top of the transition are always crooked.
I go by my 1 inch "call it out" rule.
It's usually the HO that points it out first...