Questions tagged [brick]
For questions generally relating to the artificial stone-like building material typically called "brick", and also related materials like "cinder block" and natural stone blocks.
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How to tell when/if brick foundation needs to be repointed?
My house's foundation is circa-1900 brick with lime mortar over a fieldstone base.
Should I consider repointing the brick a periodic maintenance task -- and if so, how can I tell when it should be ...
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What to do with this brick work in bathroom?
We are having our bathrooms completely torn down. The tiles have been removed from all the walls. It appears they were on green plasterboard.
After the plasterboard was torn down the brickwork is ...
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Is this cracking normal when replastering over a brick wall?
My apartment was built in 1910 and has plaster walls throughout. The wall that separates my unit with that of the neighbor has plaster over brick.
After 100 years the plaster started separating from ...
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Side garage door leak - voids in mortar - threshold problem?
I had an awful experience in having my home built a few years ago. I already had a window leak that ruined my floors in the living room after finding a cracked window seal that was “repaired” with ...
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Brick efflorescence on very old home [duplicate]
I recently purchased a 120 year old home. It’s a frame house but has a brick foundation & basement walls are all brick. There’s efflorescence that has possibly never been treated this entire time. ...
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Repairing damaged brickwork before plastering
We’ve recently had a plastered internal wall hacked off after an ongoing damp problem. The source of the damp has been rectified and external repairs are complete, but we now have to have the inside ...
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How to fill a brick sized hole in a brick cavity wall?
I have found two brick-sized holes that were covered up by multiple layers of wallpaper.
Like this:
As I intend to paint the wall instead, I would like to fill them in.
I am not sure how to do it, ...
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What can I do about the joint between my roof and brick wall leaking?
I have a bay window with its own roof, that connects to a brick wall. The joint between the roof and brick leaks when water is sprayed at or otherwise lands on the brick -- during our last hurricane, ...
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What is the source of this damp / mould patch?
I have a patch that has appeared on my outside brick work and I can’t figure out why or where it’s come from. It’s not close to any pipework I can see. Although it near the boiler outlet it’s not ...
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What could have caused this big hole in my brick wall?
The house is 2 years old.
What could have caused this big hole? Brick is crumbling and cracking.
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How to detail vertical brick to siding transition
My old East Coast row home has a wood framed addition that was built in to the existing extended party wall. Where the rear face, which is vinyl sided, joins the perpendicular brick wall, there is a ...
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How can I make mortar thicker if I've put a little too much water in it?
I'm working on an outdoor grill made of brick, and I've put a little too much water in the mix (80lb bag). Can I add a little sand to make it thicker?
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Remove Surewall from old brick chimney top
Need to remove cement coating from old chimney. I have an 1880 house with chimneys made from coal fired brick. Previous owner covered the upper 7 feet (above the gable) with a layer of surewall, ...
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Tools and techniques for enlarging round hole in brick wall
I have a new kitchen hood with a vent duct slightly larger than the existing one and I need to "roundly" enlarge the hole.
What would be the best power tool(s) and accessories to be used for ...
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Can I retuckpoint my chimney or will it have to be rebuilt?
Can I retuckpoint my chimney or will it have to be rebuilt? The bricks seem solid, but the mortar is in rough shape. Thanks.
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Brick install on covered porch
The stone covered exterior wall of my new custom home, approaches the entry way to the front door as attached columns under roof (that is, the exterior wall juts into the entryway about 12" under ...
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What layers should I add under/over solid wall insulation?
I'm looking at retro-fitting some insulation to the inside of my garage walls. It will never be a habitable room, I'd just like for the temperature in winter to be above that of outside. I mainly use ...
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What kind of mortar do I need to use?
I am going to begin some repairs to the brick foundation walls of my 1890s farm house. Mostly it will be tuck-pointing where mortar has crumbled out, but some of it will be replacing some bricks that ...
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How do I avoid this white residue around brick after my first attempt at mortar repointing?
Whole house needs to be repointing so I tried in an inconspicuous area to practice. This white residue appeared and won't come off with a wet sponge.
I'm using Spec Mix tuckpointing mortar type O. ...
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Does a brick wall damaged by a plumbing leak need repair?
Recently I discovered a leak in my kitchen.
It turned out to be a small leak, a pipe into the boiler had eroded its solder on the turn, which was an easy fix by the plumber.
The issue is it seems the ...
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Wall Anchor - Shade sails - wind
This is a variation on a theme of questions that have been asked before. I have 3 shade sails and I live in Scotland... They are anchored into two 6 inch posts, and the wall of the house. They have ...
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What’s this small metal post sticking out of my wall?
Down the side of my UK house there is this thing sticking out of my wall. There’s a gas fire on the other side of that means anything. It sticks out about 2 inches I would say.
Can I cut it down or ...
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How can I remove these strains from brickwork?
I have a brick wall that has had water drip down it for some time. How can I remove it?
Is painting over it the only way?
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Repairing minor cracks between brick wall and exterior stairs
How do you recommend to repair minor gap between exterior stair and clay hollow brick wall - the wall has plaster and paint on it.
Do I just patch with gypsum and water or mix cement with water and ...
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What is the best way to drill anchor holes in a chimney?
A structural engineer who designed our earthquake retrofit instructed us to put 3/4 all-threaded-rod (ATR) through the chimney at the rafter line on either side of the chimney, back them with Simpson ...
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Install hose hanger with Regular drill and bits
Disclaimer: I am very newbie when it comes to DIY stuff, so be patient :)
So I have installed this hose hanger into my exterior brick wall using 12V cordless drill. Looks sturdy, but I do have some ...
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Surface mount electrical box
Had a box with outlet inside cabinet. The cabinet has been removed, however I still want to have an outlet. My problems:
I can’t recess a box into the wall, because there’s an old brick fireplace 1” ...
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What is happening with my bricks?
I have recently noticed some damage on my brick wall, and I would like to understand what exactly is going on, and how it can be helped. To be clear, I am less concerned about hte black spots, and ...
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Gap Between Trim and Brick (Exterior)
I'm trying to find a solution for gap between trim and brick around my house. Specifcially the area in front of my house by the garage. When I bought the home, the house had settled and you could see ...
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Can the masonry on the outside of our fireplace be encapsulated, or must it be rebuilt?
During the inspection on a prospective home, inspection revealed the fireplace needs to be rebuilt bottom to top. There are cracks allowing moisture in. The estimate from the first fireplace ...
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Stone and brick deflection due to thermal expansion causing wall separation?
The title and photo should say it all.
I had chalked up the baseboard separation to foundation movement, but this particularly hot summer I noticed that the stone and brick jutting out in this area.
...
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Mortar starting to chip - again
11 months ago I had chipping brick mortar on the platform to the front door.
I followed this "Old House" video
This Old House
It looked like this when I finished...
Now, it has begun to ...
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Help Buying Brick Stain
My wife and I were talking about painting our brick house and while doing research we came across the possibility of staining the brick instead of painting it. It sounded like there was some ...
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Laying marble tile over brick base
I'm renovating a 90 year old house and I'm stumped by my new project. I'm replacing the hearth area of the living room fireplace with 12" by 12" by 1/4" thick marble squares. I've ...
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Vertical bricks above a window new house uk
I am trying to fit an outdoor camera above my window frame. The beat place for me is in the line of vertical tiles above the frame. These seems to only have half thickness and I am not sure what is ...
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How can I make the surface of marble rough without using chemicals?
How can I make the polished side of marble not slippery? I don't want to use chemicals to do this because these pieces of marble will be used as stepping stones in gardens.
WHAT I'VE ALREADY TRIED: ...
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Is it possible to mount heavy objects to the exterior of a brick veneer home?
I have a brick veneer home (single wythe) and would like to mount a outdoor fan that is about 60 lbs. and has a mounting plate and arm that has 4 bolt holes. In researching this project I have learned ...
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Gaps between the shades
Hey my home has this shades under the windows on the brick wall. The filling between the shade is loosening or falling off.
How do I fix it? Do I have to call a contractor or can I do it?
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What is going on with my foundation footer?
I have a wet subfloor and been advised to lay a french drain around the house. I have been watching a lot of youtube videos on how to lay ag pipes immediately next to the foundation footer (the red ...
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Should I try to open filled brick weep holes?
I may have made a stupid mistake.
Last year I found some wasps in the weep hole in my brick veneer house. The problem is that I didn't know what a weep hole was at the time, so I killed the wasps, ...
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How to remove mortar stains on bricks?
I have a newly laid brick wall (about a week ago).
A day after the job was done, I used garden hose to wash the wall. The stains did not go away at all.
Some people suggested to spray some vinegar on ...
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What hard thing am I hitting in my brick wall?
I'm drilling several 2.5cm deep holes (all horizontally about half a meter from the roof) to install some large IKEA Pax cabinets into an internal single-brick wall. I'm drilling into a wall with a ...
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Anchoring wall mounted parasol
I have bought a wall mounted parasol (this one), and now I need to attach it to my house.
The parasol comes with 14mm wall-plugs and appropriate carriage bolts - my problem lies in where to attach it.
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Difference between Impact vs normal drill bits for Masonary with sufficient BPM impact
So a Disclaimer - This is not a product review (so please do not misunderstand the intent)
I have got a trades-grade impact drill - DeWalt DCD795 which has enough torque and impact bpm to drill ...
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What is the best way to paint the exterior of an old brick wall?
I want to paint a large external brick wall. The building is around 55 years old and the mortar between the bricks has recently been deteriorating fast due to excessive rain and wind, hence letting ...
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What is this plank above the Joist pocket for
Why does this joist have a wooden plank above the pocket embedded in the wall?
Some of the other Joists in the house do not have this.
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Choosing pilot hole size for brick
I'm new to drilling but I've read up as much as I can.
I need to drill some 8mm holes in brick (not the mortar) for 8mm rawlplugs.
I'll be using a 550W Bosch corded hammer drill and I have a set of ...
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What causes these white and black marks on brickwork?
I was looking at a brick wall and noticed on the wall it had lots of small marks. They were black and some white patches.
What is likely to cause these marks? Is it an indication of a bigger problem ...
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Can rainwater seep through a single-layer brick wall in large quantities?
There is some not-so-small amount of rainwater entering our basement from the top of a window. I have checked the roof and gutters and fixed all cracks in the mortar between bricks on the exterior ...
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What type of framing do I have in my 1870s brick house?
I recently purchased a brick house built in the 1870s. We have a second floor sag right in the center of the house that I like to straighten out a bit because I'm going to have a tough time putting ...
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