Brick Veneer Gap?

[Mark Thiltgen]

I see alot of brick veneer some adhered and some anchored that goes right into the soil with no 4 to 6 inch gap. Especially the adhered decorative four foot walls in front of house that has grass or the garden up against the block. My question, is there supposed be a gap between all brick veneer walls and soil. Up here in Minnesota it seems most of them don't have them.

[Bob Elliott]

Any building constructed since 1970 should have rubber, plastic or metallic "flashing," a protective skirt that curves around joints to protect against moisture. When water does get through a wall, it collects on the flashing and is released through "weep holes," small openings in the masonry. These holes are most obvious at the top of the foundation wall.
3/16-inch-diameter weep holes every 33 inches at minimum, just above the flashing . Flashing, in turn, is recommended under the first course of masonry at ground level, above windows and doors, below window sills, and at any lintels and shelf angles

Since weeps belong just above the foundation your picture represents an issue.

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by mthiltgen

I see alot of brick veneer some adhered and some anchored that goes right into the soil with no 4 to 6 inch gap. Especially the adhered decorative four foot walls in front of house that has grass or the garden up against the block. My question, is there supposed be a gap between all brick veneer walls and soil. Up here in Minnesota it seems most of them don't have them.

Good practice and some codes dictate that the first piece of untreated framing material (the sill plate in current standard construction) resting on the concrete foundation should be 6-8 inches above exterior soil levels (grade). This is required since in constantly wet soils, water can migrate upwards through the concrete allowing the sill plate to gain moisture to rise above the 25-30% at which rot can begin.

In the pictures I'm not concerned about the weep holes being able to drain as the amount of water they usually deal with is small and will eventually get out into the upper soil layer but.....what's going on under and behind the brick flashing? Is water moving by capilliary action between it and the concrete it lays on? Is the concrete under the brick and flashing becoming saturated?