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.
584 questions
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House being built but I think the brick is poorly done [closed]
So our house is being built and the brick just went up on the house (it isn't structural).
I personally feel that the job was done extremely poorly. I don't know much about masonry but from my ...
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Is a cracked brick sign of a deeper problem
I've just noticed a cracked brick, and wondered if I could just replace it and do some repointing, or could suggest another problem?
The cracked brick appears to have a crack in the mortar moving ...
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How to finish the broken edge of my exposed brick wall?
I'm in the process of exposing the brick on an exterior wall around some newly installed patio doors. The majority of the brick work looks fine, the problem is the edge of the wall where the brick ...
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How can I extract broken off shutter-lok fasteners from brick?
I'm in the process of replacing vinyl shutters on my brick-front home. I'm replacing the existing ones with identical sized new ones that will use the same drilled holes. The problem I'm having is ...
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Coat interior brick work
We have an interior brick wall that we want for seal to stop brick dust.
What is the best way to do this or what product do I need to use?
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When to re-set a brick in a wall?
I have a single-family home with brick all around. The home was built in the early 80s. Some of the mortar is starting to crack here and there. I had a tuckpointer come and give me an estimate on ...
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What are our options to update this brick facade?
I'm interested in updating the look of the brick facade on our house. The first image shows the wall and planter below the window and the two planters by the entry way.
The previous owner painted the ...
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Can I drill a hole through brick wall/lintel for A/C lines?
I'm looking to move the a/c refrigerant and return lines that are currently through the middle of a window opening to a more natural location so that a window can be installed in the opening. I ...
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How to install a mini split when you have brick walls
I want to install a mini-split unit myself. I can't afford to do it any other way and I'm going to die of heat exhaustion if I fail because these window units just aren't doing the trick.
The only ...
- 492
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Removed Outer Brick on an Old Fireplace. Need Advice on how to re-finish
So, long story short...
Wife and I were fixing some damaged walls around the fireplace and noticed the brick at the top starting to come loose, we wanted to update the fireplace anyways and decided ...
- 206
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How to remove silicone from brick
I had my windows replaced earlier this week. The old windows had metal U brackets to guide the rolling shutters. The gap between them and the brick wall was closed using some kind of (grey) silicone.
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Water coming in through weep holes during hard rain?
One room in the front of our house leaks during a hard driving rain storms. The leaks are at the top of the window and at the floor -- both locations which seem to correspond to locations of weep ...
- 103
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How to remove plastic anchor from brick?
I was putting these plastic anchors into brick to mount a TV, but didn't drill the first hole deep enough! I've tried screwing in the screw a little and pulling it out that way, but it won't budge. ...
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Should I leave gap between my house's slab and a new one I'm laying outside in the garden?
I'm planning an outdoor kitchen.
This will be a simple brick sided bench about 3 metres long and maybe 800 mm deep.
I'm going to build it on a slab to support the weight and ensure a level surface.
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Additional brick veneer to existing construction
I am looking at a home that is a 2 story colonial. The first 10 feet or so from the ground is brick veneer (one row thick), and the upper story is vinyl. The vinyl is looking pretty bad. Is it ...
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Is it worthwhile to fill minor cracks and holes in mortar?
There are a number of small cracks and holes in the exterior on my 10-year-old brick house. These are very small and do not in any way appear structural. They are much much smaller than the weep holes,...
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Do I need external rendering to protect my brick wall?
My kitchen has been built with bricks, but external rendering has not been placed. Now it has been 17 years but nothing has happened, but I want to know if I need to externally render the wall? Could ...
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Should you solid fill a low cinder block wall?
I'm making a raised garden bed that is about 2 cinder blocks high (with 1 extra cinder block below ground as footing) in a square shape 3.6 meter each side.
So far I made a footing of 5 cm of ...
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How can I install a Pull-Up Bar on a brick wall?
I want to install a pull-up bar on a brick wall but I am not sure at all if it will hold or not. I will try to give you some specifications about the wall and the bar and hopefully you can help me.
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Will a high efficiency furnace vent etch the brick on my house?
My neighbour just informed me that they had to change the vent on their high efficiency furnace. The furnace vents between our two houses and it used to have an elbow on it directing it along the ...
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How can I repair the end of joists sitting in brick pockets?
I have 2x8 joists over an 8 foot span that were eaten by termites on one end. I need to repair all of the joists in a small room. The building is double wythe structural brick that is approximately ...
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How should I remove the paint to expose brickwork?
My house is Georgian brick (about 1780). A garage was added and the part of the wall attached to the garage was painted white. I want to remove the paint and expose the brickwork. The garage is going ...
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Water on construction site. Damage to bricks?
I managed to sneak on the construction site of my future apartment and noticed a large puddle of water where my apartment is. The first row of bricks is already wet as you can see in the picture.
The ...
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Repair a crack in a brick windowsill
How do I repair a crack in a brick windowsill? I assume that it needs to be sealed to prevent water from getting in, especially during the winter when it could freeze.
The other side of the window ...
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Electrical for built-ins and fireplace insert
We're remodeling our fireplace, to include installing built-in cabinets and shelves on either side of the fireplace, changing the fireplace surround, mantel, and hearth. We're like to run electrical ...
- 319
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Best way to mount a floating L-shaped desk to a brick wall
I'm in the planning stages of building a new corner desk. I've started by measuring the corner of the room and planning the size, but I'm not sure what's the best way to mount it right now..
These ...
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Closing off a doorway between apartments but keeping the door?
I own two condo units that are connected by a doorway in the common brick wall. Now I'd like to rent one of the units and close the doorway. I was wondering if it was possible to leave both options ...
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Window sill slant bricks
I was wondering if any manufacturer makes bricks whose top is not flat but slightly slant to be used for window sill for water drainage. I have seen slant window sills made with regular bricks that ...
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How to repair / reinforce deteriorated footings and subsoil below brick & concrete porch
My fiancee and I recently moved into a 1922 brick craftsman-style home. The front porch has a ~4" poured concrete floor and large solid concrete railing caps (12"W x 4"D). Brick columns support the ...
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How to make outbuilding remains look aesthetically pleasing
We had to knock our outbuilding down as the asbestos tiled roof had fallen in and was in a bad state of repair. We are unable to knock the wall down due to stability issues of the neighbouring ...
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Is it okay to have brick below grade?
Is it okay to have brick below grade? My house was built in 1967. The walls are brick and block construction. The soil is graded on top of 3 courses of brick. One of my neighbors said that this is ...
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How do I know if/when tuckpointing is necessary, especially if I finish the basement?
1900-ish brick-over-fieldstone foundation seems perfectly happy right now, but [digression about fieldstone aside]... What's best practice? What do I look for to tell when maint is required?
(...
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What kind of wall bolt/anchor is removeable?
What kind of wall bolt/anchor will allow me to remove and replace it as many times as necessary?
I am looking to attach a couple of 2x4's flat against a brick wall, however they would only stay there ...
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Can I add thin brick veneer directly to interior plaster
I have an interior plaster over wood-lathe wall that I'd like to cover using thin brick veneer. The plaster wall is generally in good shape (though some patching will need to be done for some ...
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How much mortar between bricks?
Our Chimney was in bad repair, and we had two chimney companies come and and say basically the same thing, it needed to be partially torn down, re-bricked, new crown, new damper door. Ok, so the ...
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I'm trying to mount a TV into a brick wall covered by 2"-2.5" of drywall... is this doable?
I'm trying to mount a 39" TV that I have previously mounted (with no issues) into typical wooden studs with an arm mount. The mount uses two vertically oriented 5/16" bolts. After stopping by my local ...
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Can I cut a hole in the brick to install a through the wall air conditioner in a basement?
I am looking to install a through the wall air conditioner in the basement. I don't want to block the one window. There is already a window in the brick. I don't know if there is any kind of ...
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How to get water to hop from patio over brick wall?
I have a concrete patio elevated a few feet above the lawn. The patio is bordered by a brick wall (on 3 sides, with the house on the 4th) that extends higher than the top of the concrete of the patio ...
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How do I tell if my house is brick or brick veneer?
I live in a brick house, and am interested in understanding whether it is brick or brick veneer, as a way to understand what kind of risks it (and we) may face during an earthquake.
I hear that brick ...
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How should I fill these large cracks/voids in this brick porch?
Filling a few, I thought, small cracks on my porch jumped to the top of the to do list when I watched a chipmunk enter one of them yesterday.
He went in the crack in front of the step, the one I have ...
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How should I repair crumbling joist pockets in a brick wall?
I'm renovating an old row house with wooden joist in masonry pockets. In many places, the mortar under the bearing point of the pockets has crumbled, cracking a few bricks and lowering the pocket. ...
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What causes these chips in a cement brick wall, and how can I fix them?
I have found my exposed basement cement wall which is about 15 x 10 in size to have quite a few areas where there is a cracked chip ranging from approx 0.5" in diameter to 2" in diameter and a few ...
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Attaching a heavy item to a 'powdery' external wall
I have a house in the UK built circa 1870. The external walls are London brick in Flemish bond I think, and are in a single layer (no cavity wall construction). At some point many tens of years ago, a ...
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Would a brick TV stand withstand the weight of a TV? [closed]
The TV is 64 " and probably weighs 60+ lbs. I would like to create a TV stand in order to place the TV off the floor likely just 2' high. The width and deph would be the same as the base of the TV.
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What to use to seal large gaps in corners where brick ends?
I have a few weird areas in my (new to me) house where brick and mortar are basically meeting corners or endings, and leaving huge gaps. The first one is a gap between the back of the brick and the ...
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How do I fix a loose brick on the corner of a tree well?
I have a loose brick on a recently made tree well. I have Quikrete Type S mortar and I'm planning on getting a trowel. What are the steps to remove the existing mortar on the brick (which is ...
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What questions should I ask of a structural engineer about these cracks in my brick walls?
My house was constructed in 1992 and we still have not completed the finishing work. Our roof is wood, there is no tie-beam or mullion at all in this house and there are some lintels above the windows ...
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How do I cover up this partially exposed brick?
Looks like someone tried to parge this brick and then put a layer of skim coat over it? I tried to take off everything that was already crumbling off and what's left is pretty stuck on there. Any ...
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How do I fill in holes in exterior brick veneer?
How do I fill in holes in exterior brick veneer ? I need it to be aesthetically nice, I need to match the color of the old cement between the bricks..
It looks like below:
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How to hide AC lines up against brick siding
I had this AC system installed, and didn't realize when asked about what location i'd prefer the compressor that it would look so ugly having it off the corner of the building instead of in the middle ...
- 1,086