Latent affects of painting brick homes?

[Barry Adair]

Anyone have info supporting the negative affects of painting the exterior brick on a home?

Deal is a $2M pier and beam house I inspected has poor grading, poor ventilation in the crawl, water intrusion issues, elevated moisture in the living space and under the house. All 6,000 sq. ft. plus of the wood floors are cupping and they want answers, NOW, or at least by Tuesday, when the check gets here and clears.

Part of what I am seeing and moisture detecting is evidence of moisture migrating up the exterior walls, mostly around the vents but also at a few doors and windows. There is rot present at the subfloor and structural members and efflorescence at the beam.

Also, anyone know the correct name of the white fungal wood rot?

Thanx, I'll be back after my grandsons soccer matches.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

I wouldn't try to identify a species of fungi without lab results (and that doesn't appear to be necessary).

[Joseph Hagarty, CMI]

http://www.gobrick.com/html/frmset_thnt.htm

[Joseph Hagarty, CMI]

Originally Posted by badair

Also, anyone know the correct name of the white fungal wood rot?

Poria (poria incrassata)

http://www.entomology.ucr.edu/ebelin...a%20incrassata

[Larry D. Kage]

Originally Posted by jhagarty

http://www.gobrick.com/html/frmset_thnt.htm

From Joe's link above:
"Paint. Paint for application to brick masonry walls should be durable, easy to apply and have good adhesive characteristics. It should be porous if applied on exterior masonry, thereby permitting the wall to breathe and preventing the trapping of free moisture behind the paint film."

I'm not sure how one would tell if the paint is porous (like linseed, I believe) or not.

[Kenton H. Shepard, CMI]

Originally Posted by badair

Anyone have info supporting the negative affects of painting the exterior brick on a home?

Deal is a $2M pier and beam house I inspected has poor grading, poor ventilation in the crawl, water intrusion issues, elevated moisture in the living space and under the house. All 6,000 sq. ft. plus of the wood floors are cupping and they want answers, NOW, or at least by Tuesday, when the check gets here and clears.

Part of what I am seeing and moisture detecting is evidence of moisture migrating up the exterior walls, mostly around the vents but also at a few doors and windows. There is rot present at the subfloor and structural members and efflorescence at the beam.

Also, anyone know the correct name of the white fungal wood rot?

Thanx, I'll be back after my grandsons soccer matches.

That's a nasty one, Barry.

Brick is a sponge and depending on the type of paint used, moisture absorbed by the brick cladding will be uneffected and pass easily through, be limited in its ability to pass through, or be prevented from passing through the paint layer, depending on the type of paint, so you want to know the type of paint, and whether the problem is moisture getting into the home from outside, or moisture from inside the home not being able to get out.

Brick cladding usually effects the walls more than the floor, since during hot weather, moisture following the thermal gradiant as it does (moisture moves from warm to cold), wet brick will dry to the cool home interior, causing problems and popping nails in walls.

$20 buys an instrument which will read temp. and humidity. Try recording levels outside, on all levels of the home interior and in any crawlspaces or basements to get moisture readings you can compare.
Once you understand moisture levels in different parts of the home, you can factor in wall assembly construction and maybe figure out where the problem lies.

Wood floor cupping means the floor boards are absorbing more moisture on one side than the other. Wood cups away from the source of the moisture. It sounds like your property has high levels of soil moisture. Is there a plastic soil cover or venting of moisture vapor from air beneath the home (crawlspace?)

The source may be a high water table, negative grade or underground spring, but it sounds to me like there's moisture coming out of the soil as water vapor which needs to be gotten rid of before it has a chance to effect the home structure.

[Barry Adair]

Joe D.F.,
Request was for my info only, not the report, I was in the midst of a senior's moment at the time of posting.

Joe H.,
Thanks for the reply I was trying to think of.

Kent,
Thanks for the info and yes this one is nasty and will require some extensive remediation under, outside and inside to get things right and tight.
I always take hygrometer readings upon arrival and departure of all inspections inside, outside, and at the crawls when present. Part of my own SOP

No moisture barrier and venting is inadequate for the crawlspace (see previous photo)
No barrier between the beam wall and sill plates
Grade is elevated to the bottom of the vents that are present, above the sill plates
No flashings present (step, counter, or kickout) at roof wall terminations
Irrigation is having a negative affect due to type and placement
Gutters overflow during heavy rains
...and the hits keep coming

Did I mention WATCH OUT FOR LIVE WIRES!!!