Questions tagged [masonry]
The masonry tag has no usage guidance.
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0answers
18 views
Can joists be pocketed in a remodel?
Reading on this site I realized that due to the difficulty, joists can't be pocketed according to the Philadelphia construction code. My question has to do with pocketing about 8-10 joists when new ...
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1answer
16 views
How can I prevent bluestone mortar from degrading so quickly?
We live in Milwaukee, WI. Our front porch has a combination of bluestone pavers as well as brick on the stoops with mortar joints. We have had repeated problems with presumably water/expansion in ...
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1answer
42 views
Is this masonry roofline intersection problematic? Should it be called out by our home inspector?
Our new house (brick and stone veneer) came with a significant exterior wall leak at a roofline/masonry intersection, so I've been learning more about how these are supposed to be waterproofed, and am ...
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1answer
26 views
Appropriate level of protection for mortar at 0-4 degrees?
Its well known that mortar needs a temperature above about 4-5 degrees C to set properly.
Various websites state that protection, covering, or other tricks may be used for lower temperatures, but ...
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1answer
40 views
Mounting heavy shelves to brick wall
I've an aluminium shelf that's 150cm wide, it came with 8 of these 10x50 plastic plugs and 6x60 universal screws.
I've drilled into my masonry wall with a 60mm deep with a masonry bit and installed ...
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4answers
151 views
Identify strange wall fixing
Can anyone please help me identify what the fixing below is and how to remove it?
Four of them attached a wooden gate post to the side of a masonry wall. The wooden post is gone - it was rotten so ...
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0answers
35 views
Fixing up chimney to connect a coal stove
I want to connect a coal stove to this chimney. It is a Leisure Line Pioneer LE/TV which was connected to a power vent right out the basement foundation many years ago. I had the original installer ...
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1answer
87 views
Is this retaining wall failing? [closed]
The picture below shows a retaining wall. It was hard to take a picture from a good angle, but it looks to me like the wall is showing a "belly" and the seams are opening up. But I'm not sure: perhaps ...
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1answer
50 views
What would be the best tuck pointing temporary alternative?
I have a brick home and I am seeing a lot of spots that are missing mortar. It was not obvious at first, but we have had a bit of an ant problem and I tried to figure out where they are coming in ...
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0answers
231 views
Leak above window during rain, is this caused by a masonry drainage problem?
I've lived in the same brick rowhouse for about 2 years. It's been raining for 36 of the last 48 hours, heavily at times, and I am seeing some rain leaking to the inside: above one of the larger ...
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2answers
499 views
Brick fireplace - pulling away from wall
I have a brick fireplace that is 8 feet wide by 39.5 inches tall.
The brick is pulling away from the wall. Attached pictures show what is happening.
I can see the brick was attached to the ...
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3answers
120 views
Building work on concrete in a very wet environment - natural spring
My garage area, which is currently just a concrete slab for parking cars on, has a natural spring that pops up just at ground level. The water never stops, and the concrete there is permanently wet ...
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1answer
68 views
Basement cinderblock wall tops - cover or fill
A few spots on the top of my basement wall have had their tops hacked off for projects (ducts/plumbing/unknown). We had a mouse issue and I'm looking to close these spots up in case they are finding ...
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0answers
45 views
How to fix cracked mortar between splitface blocks
I have a frame house that sits on about 4' of split-face block. The house is 30 years old, and I was pressure washing the block to re-seal it. Noticed a number of gnarly cracks like this one:
I'm ...
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0answers
49 views
What kind of tools are used in today's era to carve stones or large rocks in masonry?
I've always been curious as to how builders are able to shape things like granite or other stone slabs into the desired round-over or other type of support.
I've had some experience with clay as in ...
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0answers
20 views
What can I tint masonry paint with?
I have some yellow masonry paint (Sandtex) which is not quite a match for my house (the paint I have is slightly darker and greener than the house). I have lightened it with a splash of white masonry ...
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2answers
76 views
Need to Remove and Replace a Hook that is in Concrete
I have a metal hook that has been put into hole in a brick wall using concrete. I am wanting to remove it as a piece of the hook snapped off. What is the easiest way to remove this hook and replace? ...
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1answer
55 views
How curved is a horizontal string line? [closed]
I plan to build a raised planter from 2 courses of concrete blocks. The long dimension is about 9 meters. I staked the corners, and then stretched a string the entire length as taut as I could without ...
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1answer
16 views
Is there any advantage to using larger stones in a free-standing dry stack wall?
I'm building a free-standing dry stack wall using ashlar scrap from a quarry (pieces of uniform thickness with completely flat top and bottom faces, but irregular sides):
Within each course of the ...
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1answer
591 views
How to Pocket joist into double Wythe solid Brick wall?
I have a project in which I am relocating a staircase in a home I recently purchased. The engineer's drawings show the joists being pocketed into the walls. My original understanding was that you ...
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2answers
2k views
Can I build a concrete block wall over floor tile?
I am enclosing a tiled porch on concrete slab with a 3' short wall of concrete block, with windows above. Should concrete blocks be laid over a tile floor?
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1answer
54 views
Is my contractor guy doing a botch up job with repointing
Is my contractor guy doing a botch up job with repointing.
Is it normal that it's drying out all cracked up like this and it's easy to crumble.
They are only using the masonry cement type S and color ...
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0answers
39 views
Retaining Wall Help
Does anyone have any recommendations on how to fix or even prevent this from getting worse? Moved into the house and crack has probably gotten bigger by about .5 inch.
Unfortunately, previous owner ...
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1answer
62 views
Can you install stone veneer at an angle?
I'm thinking of covering my brick fireplace with 6"x24" stone veneer panels and wondered about doing something like setting all the rows on an angle or having the left and right sides each angled up ...
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1answer
70 views
Flush Mount Masonry Electrical Box
Building an outdoor kitchen out of 4" concrete block, it will be faced with natural stone veneer.
As I'm stacking the block, I'd like to add a few electric boxes, here's the 2-1/2" deep masonry box ...
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1answer
180 views
Does this CMU block wall on pool need rebar?
So I'm in the process of remodeling my backyard. One of the things I wanted to do was build a wall similar to the first picture I included (with the stacked stone). The red arrows point at the wall.
...
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2answers
162 views
Gabion walls as retaining walls?
There's a lot of information about DIY gabion walls, but none of the applications that I've seen on YouTube and elsewhere talk about gabion walls as retaining walls. I would imagine that a gabion wall ...
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0answers
332 views
How best to deal with this crumbling interior brickwork?
While I was repainting the interior, some plaster started coming off the old brickwork in my new house. I now have a 50cm by 50cm hole. Underneath, the mortar is crumbling and some bricks are cracked....
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1answer
44 views
What mesh to buy (and where to buy it) for gabion walls? [closed]
I'd like to build a DIY gabion wall. I've watched many tutorials, but I'm at a loss on where to buy the mesh the build the baskets from. I saw the mesh at the local Home Depot store and it was rusted, ...
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0answers
64 views
Fixing masonry opening in chimney for water heater vent
What the right way to fix this? This is the opening to a chimney, for the vent pipe for a water heater. I needed to enlarge the opening from 3 inch to 4 inch. You can see the round part on the left ...
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1answer
65 views
How to fill recess in fireplace before tiling
I wish to tile a fireplace pictured below
The brickwork has a recessed area directly above the firebox (pictured below)
This recessed area measures 28" x 8" x 1-1/2"
I wish to tile over the recessed ...
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1answer
364 views
Will hex shank drill bit fit a 3 jaw chuck?
Is it possible to fit a hex shank drill bit (masonry) onto a 3 jaw chuck ?
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0answers
63 views
Attaching hose bib to masonry?
I have a relatively new house and idiot me forgot to unscrew the hose from the back hose bib over the last winter. I finally got a plumber out to replace it but he just left it flopping around in the ...
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1answer
1k views
Best and thinnest way to cover masonry brick wall with drywall
I am remodeling my 1950s home and I have exterior walls made out of masonry bricks (cinder bricks). The interior of the bricks has been painted many times over. I've been given 2 basic ...
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1answer
78 views
Decorative hanging hooks into plaster and brick wall
I'm at a bit of a loss, but I feel like I can't surely be the only person with this issue. We have a number of keepsake / decorative items that need to be hung by a hook. An example is a surprisingly ...
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4answers
280 views
Replacing the railing on an old rock retaining wall
This house was built in the mid 1950s. I assume the rock wall was built at the same time. It has an old railing that is not attached anymore and needs to be replaced. My current plan is to cut off the ...
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1answer
1k views
Masonry Repair - Paver Steps Loose
I have some steps on my front walkway that have come loose (marked with blue tape in the pictures). I've tried fixing these with liquid nails and with epoxy. But I can't get them to stay. I've kept ...
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2answers
202 views
Options for interior brick walls damaged by rotary hammer
I recently removed some very deteriorated plaster from an interior brick wall. I used a rotary hammer and a traditional hammer and chisel. After having removed about half the plaster I stopped because ...
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1answer
250 views
Chimney repair for old unused flue
We bought a house, built in 1986. The home has a "real" fireplace (heatilator style)- (Center flue), furnace is direct vented (now), and water heater is vented through the chimney (right flue).
The ...
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0answers
2k views
how to patch hole in interior chimney wall
I was recently removing plaster from the interior wall of my chimney and discovered a huge hole that had been patched by some drywall.
The chimney is still used to vent my furnace and water heater, ...
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1answer
37 views
Should I hire a mason to repair wall damage with incorrect brick?
A month or so ago I had an electrician in who accidentally put a hole through the brick wall of our house that now needs to be repaired.
From what I can gather, because I live in an older house the ...
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1answer
354 views
Pouring footer in dirt without form
A construction site close to my house made their footer by just digging a ditch around the perimeter of the building and poured concrete directly in the dirt with no wooden form. I'm just curious if ...
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1answer
88 views
How much active labor is involved in repointing?
I hired a contractor to perform repointing on my old house and opted to pay them by the hour. I chose this company is because they know how to make the proper softer mortar for antique Chicago bricks....
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1answer
93 views
Conflicting contractor opinions on rebuilding steps using original construction method
Is it appropriate to rebuild brick steps with sandstone slab steps and landing depicted with dimensions in the picture "Final Constructed Steps" below using the original construction method depicted ...
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1answer
300 views
Is a wooden buck necessary when installing windows into full width brick?
I'm looking for pointers on installing a new window into a full width brick wall. Pictures are here. They are the basements windows in a rowhome. There's a slanted brick sill on the bottom. The brick ...
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1answer
139 views
Why is the sand in my cement mixes so thirsty?
In making up cement-based mixtures, I always start with a water:cement ratio of 0.42:1, which is the optimal ratio. But whenever I make a mix that has a substantial quantity of sand in it (e.g. for ...
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1answer
258 views
SDS drills with advertised chuck sizes
I am looking to buy a hammer drill, but have no experience in this area. Everywhere I look, it seems that SDS/SDS+ is a universal chuck design, in that any SDS bit will work with any SDS drill and ...
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1answer
411 views
How to reinforce this concrete wall that wasn't properly drained and is starting to lean 3/4" from top?
I have a cinder block wall (CMU) that was built about 3 years ago. I purchased my home 1.5 years ago. I was told that the wall was built 3 years ago by the neighbor and it was built by a local ...
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2answers
48 views
Limestone versus granite for yard edging
I am looking at adding some stone edging to my yard and possibly building some steps. The stone seller advised me against limestone, as he said it would stain and deteriorate rapidly compared to ...
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0answers
76 views
What aspects of bricklaying are most important structurally vs aesethically
I've seen homes where the mortar is squeezing out between bricks. This appears pretty sloppy must still be structurally sound. It seems that the pointing of the joints is just an aesthetic choice. ...
