Moisture Damage to Your Home’s Bricks
Brick is durable, beautiful, and often increases the resale value of homes. Under normal weather conditions and with the proper maintenance, bricks can last for a century or more. With the proper attention, brick is not difficult to maintain. However, they are vulnerable to moisture, and can degrade, or “spall,” over time, especially when subject to freezing/thawing cycles.
Bricks can be made of many materials but the two most common is clay and concrete. The clay fired brick is more susceptible to moisture damage than than the less expensive concrete due to the hard fired shell on the exterior. When moisture penetrates the fired surface, spalling usually occurs.
Professional home inspectors often find homeowners have plugged their bricks weep holes with spray foam or other filling products. Weep holes are required every 24 inches on the first row of brick above the flashing in Canada. Free flowing screens or other devices may be utilized to keep out insects.
Poor workmanship is one of the main causes of brick failure. Poor mortar mixing, allowing mortar to dry out, poor storage of masonry units, and unbonded mortar on joints all lead to potential for mortar cracking and the intrusion of moisture which causes deterioration and spalling. The proper application of mortar will affect how well the bricks will repel rain and other moisture issues.
Water can enter through tiny cracks between the bricks and mortar. When mortar doesn’t completely fill the vertical joints between bricks, these “head joints” will allow water to flow. The purpose of the weeping holes is to allow moisture to drain and air movement behind brick wall. Sealing weeping holes can create serious problems which could include wall movement from freezing of collected water behind bricks.
There are two common types of window sills, brick and concrete sills. Both of these sills are susceptible to moisture damage in winter climates. Any small crack or failure for mortar to bond to bricks provides an entry point for moisture. The freezing cycle will continue to expand these tiny cracks until brick damage occurs.
The Barrie Home Inspector routinely comes across this problem at the early stages of mortar cracking and routinely points out to his clients the benefits of maintenance in preventing more severe damage. The old adage of “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure” is especially true in the maintenance of your brick window sills.
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