The home I am trying to buy is a 2004 Toll Brothers construction in MA.
During inspection, we found that that Brick Veneer/Siding on 2 front walls overhands the concrete foundation by 1.5-2 inches.
My inspector highlighted this issue and I also got an opinion from a Structural Engineer, who agreed that this was an issue, which needed a fix via bolting a galvanized angle to support the brick overhang, which will be bolted to the foundation.
The Seller is not keen to fix. Toll Brothers says that this is not a structural issue, so they will not cover this under extended warrenty.
So could one of you help me with the following:
What are the risks of such overhang?
How much wd it cost me approximately to get the galvanized angle fix done?
Let me get this straight…the structural engineer recommended a 1 1/2-inch galvanized steel angle, to be placed under a non-structural brick veneer that has existed for four years with no problems? Uh huh. I guess when you call the engineer, he has to suggest something to earn his keep. My own opinion, based of course only on the potentially incomplete description, without pictures, is “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Should it have been built that way? Of course not. Is it the end of the world? Of course not.
The exterior face of the poured concrete or concrete block foundation, which the brick veneer sits on , should be in the same plane as the finished brick’s wall plane. The reason for this is to prevent water from traveling horizontally into the building on the projecting concrete ledge. [If the concrete wall is that far out of line, the flashing should be set in mastic to prevent water from entering under the flashing. If concrete is out of location, brick can overhang the foundation by 1/3 bed depth (with 2/3 bearing on foundation) before a shelf angle is needed.
I fail to see what engineer would differ from this.
Like Richard said, it is not right, but if there is no apparent movement, don’t fix it.
A typical brick veneer is 3&3/4" and 2/3 bearing would equate to 2&1/2" bearing.
This would not be acceptable in the Commercial zone for veneers or structural, it would get rejected.
Unless there are signs of movement or failures and cracking, I would only note the the overhang is borderline to what is allowable by the BIA.
Any possible movement in the future could or may well be attributed to the bearing of the veneer.
