Broken exterior brick window ledge

[Allen L. Catterton]

Can anyone give me some guidance regarding what has happened here? The brick window ledge has cracked at both ends of the window at the exterior. There is no cracking or visible bulging of the drywall or the wall framing at the interior. There are no other step cracks in the brick facing around or above the window. The header above the window appears to be a double 2 X 12. And there are no voids around the slab foundation anywhere near the window when probed. Thanks for any input you may offer.

[Jeffery L. Haynes]

How does the window open and shut......are the reveals good?

[Allen L. Catterton]

Opens and closes properly and evenly. You cannot see it well but the rear sections of the brick ledge have broken off downward under the aluminum window frame. There is approximately a 3/8 inch gap above the broken rear section of the brick and below the bottom corners of the frame.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Is it possible that some one hit it or the sill was used for stageing purposes to work above the window?
Looks like a staging plank and weight forced it down.
Just a guess.

[David P. Valley]

What a strange looking break. It surely doesn't appear to be a structural issue due to the crack (opening) stopping at the adjacent breaks.

I will agree with Marcel. I'll bet the builders used this window for loading materials into or out of this building.

[Allen L. Catterton]

Makes sense. The home was built in 2004 and my first though was that some downward pressure was applied to the rear section of the brick in order to break is in such a manner. Thank you all!

[jbettencourt]

Definately stress cracks, some sort of downward force was placed on those bricks for them to crack like that.