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This article describes brick wall lining or "insulation" in buildings, why it was used, what problems may occur, and the inspection methods and clues to detect brick lined walls in older homes (sometimes called Nogging) and discusses the implications of brick wall liners in buildings. Non-structural bricks were used to line the exterior walls in some pre-1900 wood frame buildings primarily an air infiltration or wind barrier, possibly as "insulation" or for thermal mass, and possibly as a "sound proofing" method. Readers should also see THERMAL MASS in buildings.

Often these homes were built with balloon stud framing, no exterior sheathing (they used diagonal bracing), and exterior clapboards right on the studs. In homes framed in this manner, if the exterior wall cavities were left empty, the walls were drafty and uninsulated. Some homes, such as the Weisman home in Montgomery NY (shown above) and another home photographed by Arlene Puentes (shown below), were built with brick-lined walls, bricks being mortared in between the studs on all floors and even extending into the attic.

Other benefits of this design included fire stopping effects and added thermal mass to the building, making temperature changes less rapid and thus the house more comfortable. The presence of brick in wood frame wall cavities, such as in the photograph shown at the top of this page (Courtesy Joe and Beth Weisman) may help determine the age of a building.

The condition of the brick "nogging" may also be an important indicator of the building leak history.

Also see BRICK VENEER WALL INSULATION for a discussion of modern insulation methods for brick veneer walls.

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Brick Wall Lining in Older Homes

Brick wall "insulation" or brick nogging may be found in wood framed buildings built up to about 1900. Usually these homes have exterior clapboards and interior plaster walls.

An owner of such a home usually finds out about the brick in the home walls at the first renovation or wiring or plumbing project. But a home inspector and home buyer might also be able to detect brick-lined walls and should be interested in what this construction method might mean to the new owner.

These bricks are not structural, and they were simply mortared in place between wood framed wall studs and rested on the sill plates of each floor. It would be unusual to find brick wall linings in interior walls unless at one time the "interior" wall was at one time a building exterior wall structure.

Brick Nogging was generally not intended to be exposed to view, and served the purpose of blocking wind that blew through older homes constructed without an exterior sheathing - clapboards were nailed directly to the structural frame. Typical wall construction was stud framing, 16" o.c., diagonal wood bracing in walls, clapboard exterior, rough masonry wall filler on all floors and extending into the attic. Interior walls were covered by plaster on wood lath.

Opening walls filled with brick nogging or other masonry will often reveal rough and varying styles of masonry (as it was not intended to be seen) that went in fast. The masons may have used a variety of bricks and rubble. I [DF] suspect that this construction method may have been adopted by builders who had observed the short life and pest infestation problems that followed colonial and later attempts at wall insulation using natural materials like straw and corncobs.

Websters Dictionary gives this definition: "Nogging: (?), n. Rough brick masonry used to fill in the interstices of a wooden frame, in building."
Wordnet Dictionary gives this similar definition: "Noun 1. nogging - rough brick masonry used to fill in the gaps in a wooden frame". "Nogging" is a term also used by some to describe exposed brick lining in timber framed walls in which the brick is left in view on the building exterior for aesthetic reasons.

Because brick (or other masonry) placed in building cavities as a wind barrier and thermal mass source was in that use not intended to be exposed, you can expect to see the workmanship quite rough in appearance and inconsistent from one building area to another (as any and various masonry material at hand might be used) compared with masonry intended to be left exposed to view.

Some Considerations for Homes with Brick Lined Walls - Brick Nogging

• House Age: Brick nogging helps set a possible age for the home. Houses built between 1810 and 1900, or perhaps earlier may have brick-lined walls. I [Friedman] found brick nogging lining the walls of a 1790 house in Poughkeepsie NY. So finding bricks in your house walls is often a clue about when it was built.
• Insulating Value of Brick Wall Lining: Brick has an "R" value estimated at about 0.11", so a brick lined wall has an R-value of something like R1 overall (including the wood siding and interior plaster) - pretty low compared with modern R11-R20 walls. Adding conventional insulation such as fiberglass batts, blown-in fiberglass, or blown-in cellulose or foam (to save heating and cooling costs) are not an option unless walls are stripped from inside or outside first, and bricks removed. In an extensive old house renovation, if the project includes replacing exterior siding or interior wall surfaces, and in homes where accurate historic preservation of original construction materials and details is not a requirement, it is common to remove all of the wall-lining bricks in order to substitute a more effective insulating material. Owners who have taken this step (such as the Weismans) report a significant reduction in home heating costs.
• Weight of Brick-Lined Walls: Alan Carson, (Carson Dunlop Associates, Toronto) estimates that weight would be about 400 lb. per stud cavity per floor. (Clay bricks weigh about 150 lb./cu. ft.). If the structure is damaged by rot or insects, or modified by "remodeling" there is risk that the added weight of bricks in upper floor walls could require additional support. Beware of remodeling on lower floors which includes the removal of bricks in the wall cavities - it may be necessary to add support to be certain that weight of brick lining upper floor walls does not cause a structural problem for the lower floors.
• Brick Wall Liners and Fire Safety: If the building was framed using balloon framing rather than platform framing it may be necessary to add fire blocking if bricks are removed since you may have removed what amounted to fire-blocking in the wall cavities.
• Brick Lined Wall Collapse Warning: Joe and Beth Weisman pointed out at their website [References below] that when removing exterior siding [or interior plaster] one should be careful to watch out for falling bricks. In their renovation one wall dumped quite a few bricks on the ground when it was opened. Puentes points out that in earthquake prone areas, "hidden" brick or other masonry wall lining could fall into an upper room and perhaps through a ceiling into a room below, making this construction method an additional safety concern for houses in earthquake zones. [We don't know if this method has been used in earthquake areas.]
• Brick Walls, Condensation, and Mold: Brick wall lining may increase condensation on the interior of some exterior walls and could be a dampness or mold issue. You may see evidence of this as mold behind pictures that have been hung on exterior walls for some time. You'll also see this in solid-masonry homes.
• Electical Wiring: Running new electrical circuits in exterior walls will encounter the brick lining which may need to be removed in some cases (or run wires behind floor baseboards or in other chases). Carson wondered if the absence of electrical wiring (seen as no outlets nor switches) in the walls of an older building might suggest brick lining.

Where Will You Find Clues Suggesting the Presence of Brick Lined Walls

• Age of the home: if the home was built before 1900 and is a wood frame structure, especially in cold climates where people care more about wind blowing through walls, brick nogging may have been used.

• This photo shows the wall-cavity or interior surface of the exterior clapboard sheathing used on this home. The draftiness of walls constructed in this manner was a reason that some builders used brick wall lining as not only insulation but as "wind barrier". I f you look closely at the exposed side of the clapboards in this photograph where some wall lining bricks have conveniently fallen away, you'll see circular saw cut marks - an indicator that this house is not one of the older instances of brick wall lining. I estimate that this house dates from 1890. New York State had circular saw lumber mills sooner than some other states, and saw marks are not a precise dating method, but had this been a home from 1840-1850 we may have seen that the saw blade had left straight blade marks across the clapboard - indicating a power-operated vertical "pit saw." Had the saw blade marks been straight but alternating in a tight "X" pattern across the clapboard the board would have been cut on a hand-operated pit saw, and this would be a still-older home.

• In the basement, bricks may be visible between floor joists sitting atop the building sills, especially in balloon-framed homes. Arlene Puentes' photograph shows how subtle this clue may be as very little brick may be visible from the basement.

• In the living area - bricks may be discovered in wall cavities during renovations or remodeling
• Mold on Walls: while certainly not a sure bet, the presence of mold behind wall hangings occurring on exterior walls may indicate the effects of brick lined wall cavities. The brick lining can mean that the surface of this wall stays cooler longer and has more condensation on the wall surface than will be seen on the surface of interior walls.
• Sagging at Sills: At the interior side of exterior walls, usual degrees of sill or rim joist crushing in areas of rot or insect damage could include the added effects of the extra weight of bricks in the building exterior walls.

• In the attic - bricks may be visible between wall studs extending up into the attic. In this photograph of a brick-lined wall you can see that some of the bricks have fallen out of the wall cavity and onto the attic floor. This is not itself a structural problem but it may indicate a history of roof leaks at this spot. Roof leaks may in turn track to rot or insect damage. Based on this theory and buttressed by leak stains visible in the photograph, I'm guessing that these fallen bricks were on an eaves wall not a gable end wall. We discuss this further below at "Repairs".

• Arlene's photograph of this brick-lined wood framed wall in an attic shows the diagonal bracing commonly used in this generation of wood frame brick-lined construction. The care with which the mason filled-in with brick and mortar even around the diagonal bracing confirms the intention of this usage as an air barrier.

• Exterior Renovations: From the exterior - bricks may be visible if siding is removed for repairs or other building work

What to do if Portions of Your Brick Wall Lining Has Fallen into the Attic

• Clean up the fallen masonry and debris.
• Diagnose the reason that the bricks fell into the attic: the masonry wall filler may have been damaged by water from roof leaks or ice dam leaks if the home is in a northern climate. If this is the case you'll want to be sure you've corrected the cause of water leakage. If the brick collapse is traced to water leaks be sure to also look for evidence of structural rot of nearby wood framing members, and be alert for evidence of insect damage since leaks can attract carpenter ants or termites into a building, including an attic.
• Consider rebuilding the brick liner in the wall cavity if you are not planning to renovate the area. Use soft mortar as was used originally. This option makes sense if only one or two bricks have fallen from place.
• Alternatively, use modern insulation - especially where lots of wall-lining bricks have fallen or are loose and appear about to fall, insulate the wall empty wall cavity with other insulating material such as fiberglass batts.

References & Credits for this Brick Wall Lining (Brick Nogging) Article

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• Arlene Puentes, a licensed home inspector, educator, and building failures researcher in Kingston, NY. Photographs © Arlene Puentes 2006 All Rights Reserved. Text © Daniel Friedman Arlene Puentes 2007-2006 All Rights Reserved.
• Technical contributions and review: Alan Carson, Carson Dunlop Associates, Toronto, Ontario. Al Carson is a building failures researcher, educator, and a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
• Photo contributions: Joe and Beth Weisman, who have been renovating a brick-insulated house in Montgomery, NY were kind enough to share some of their website's photos for this article. Individual photo sources are cited in the text above.
• Brick nogging used as soundproofing is mentioned in this article on Popular Forest
• Brick Nogging, Historical Investigation and Contemporary Repair, Construction Specifier, April 2006. Historical use of brick in timber-framed buildings, drawing on the investigations of the Kent Tavern in Calais, VT. "Brick nogging is a European method of construction which was brought to the new world in the early-nineteenth century. It was a common construction method that employed masonry as infill between the vertical uprights of wood framing." -- quoting the web article review.
• Photo of very rough in-wall brick nogging at an architects website
• Nogging: See this photo of exposed bricks on a building exterior on a building exterior in Canada. [Thanks to Carson Dunlop, Toronto - see References below].
• Piquet Wall Construction: See this photo of piquet wall construction - involving timber-framed wall construction with long top girts, diagonal timber bracing, and small diameter logs placed vertically along with concrete chinking to fill in the wall plane.
• Rubblestone Wall Filler: See this Lartigue House using exterior-exposed rubblestone filler between vertical timbers of a post and beam-framed Canadian building.
• These photos are from an 18th French fortress in Nova Scotia. See the ( Louisburg Fortress) tourist site.
• Also see the Louisburg research site.

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.

• "The Elimination of Unsafe Guardrails, a Progress Report," Elliott O. Stephenson, Building Standards, March-April 1993
• "Are Functional Handrails Within Our Grasp" Jake Pauls, Building Standards, January-February 1991
• Access Ramp building codes:
  • UBC 1003.3.4.3
  • BOCA 1016.3
  • ADA 4.8.2
  • IBC 1010.2
• Access Ramp Standards:
  • ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), Public Law 101-336. 7/26/90 is very often cited by other sources for good design of stairs and ramps etc. even where disabled individuals are not the design target.
  • ANSI A117.4 Accessible and Usable buildings and Facilities (earlier version was incorporated into the ADA)
  • ASTM F 1637, Standard Practice for Safe Walking Surfaces, (Similar to the above standards)
• America's Favorite Homes, mail-order catalogues as a guide to popular early 20th-century houses, Robert Schweitzer, Michael W.R. Davis, 1990, Wayne State University Press ISBN 0814320066 (may be available from Wayne State University Press)
• American Plywood Association, APA, "Portland Manufacturing Company, No. 1, a series of monographs on the history of plywood manufacturing",Plywood Pioneers Association, 31 March, 1967, www.apawood.org
• Animal Allergens: Dog, Cat, and Other Animal Dander - Cleanup & Prevention Information for Asthmatics and regarding Indoor Air Quality.
• Asbestos: How to find and recognize asbestos in buildings - visual inspection methods, list of common asbestos-containing materials
• Asbestos HVAC Ducts and Flues field identification photos and guide
• Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print).
• Asbestos Identification and Testing References
• Asbestos Identification, Walter C.McCrone, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, IL.1987 ISBN 0-904962-11-3. Dr. McCrone literally "wrote the book" on asbestos identification procedures which formed the basis for current work by asbestos identification laboratories.
• Stanton, .F., et al., National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 506: 143-151
• Pott, F., Staub-Reinhalf Luft 38, 486-490 (1978) cited by McCrone
• Brick nogging used as soundproofing is mentioned in this article on Popular Forest
• Brick Nogging, Historical Investigation and Contemporary Repair, Construction Specifier, April 2006. Historical use of brick in timber-framed buildings, drawing on the investigations of the Kent Tavern in Calais, VT. "Brick nogging is a European method of construction which was brought to the new world in the early-nineteenth century. It was a common construction method that employed masonry as infill between the vertical uprights of wood framing." -- quoting the web article review.
• Photo of very rough in-wall brick nogging at an architects website
• Building Research Council, BRC, nee Small Homes Council, SHC, School of Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, brc.arch.uiuc.edu. "The Small Homes Council (our original name) was organized in 1944 during the war at the request of the President of the University of Illinois to consider the role of the university in meeting the demand for housing in the United States. Soldiers would be coming home after the war and would be needing good low-cost housing. ...  In 1993, the Council became part of the School of Architecture, and since then has been known as the School of Architecture-Building Research Council. ... The Council's researchers answered many critical questions that would affect the quality of the nation's housing stock.
  • How could homes be designed and built more efficiently?
  • What kinds of construction and production techniques worked well and which did not?
  • How did people use different kinds of spaces in their homes?
  • What roles did community planning, zoning, and interior design play in how neighborhoods worked
• "An Example of Colonial Paneling", Norman Morrison Isham, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 6, No. 5 (May, 1911), pp. 112-116, available by JSTOR.
• Dust from the World Trade Center collapse following the 9/11/01 attack: the lower floors of this building contained spray-on fire-proofing asbestos materials.
• "Energy Savers: Whole-House Supply Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Whole-House_Supply_Vent.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11880?print
• "Energy Savers: Whole-House Exhaust Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Whole-House_Exhaust.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11870
• "Energy Savers: Ventilation [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Ventilation.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
• "Energy Savers: Natural Ventilation [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Natural_Ventilation.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
• "Energy Savers: Energy Recovery Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Energy_Recovery_Venting.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11900
• "Energy Savers: Detecting Air Leaks [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Detect_Air_Leaks.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
• "Energy Savers: Air Sealing [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Air_Sealing_1.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
• Falls and Related Injuries: Slips, Trips, Missteps, and Their Consequences, Lawyers & Judges Publishing, (June 2002), ISBN-10: 0913875430 ISBN-13: 978-0913875438
  "Falls in the home and public places are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths in the United States, but are overlooked in most literature. This book is unique in that it is entirely devoted to falls. Of use to primary care physicians, nurses, insurance adjusters, architects, writers of building codes, attorneys, or anyone who cares for the elderly, this book will tell you how, why, and when people will likely fall, what most likely will be injured, and how such injuries come about. "
• Fiberglass: Indoor Air Quality Investigations: Health Concerns About Airborne Fiberglass: Fiberglass in Indoor Air from HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation
• Humidity: What indoor humidity should we maintain in order to avoid a mold problem?
• Lighting, proper use of: proper aiming of a good flashlight can disclose hard to see but toxic light or white mold colonies on walls.
• Nogging: See this photo of exposed bricks on a building exterior on a building exterior in Canada. [Thanks to Carson Dunlop, Toronto - see References below].
• Pergo AB, division of Perstorp AB, is a Swedish manufacturer or modern laminate flooring products. Information about the U.S. company can be found at http://www.pergo.com where we obtained historical data used in our discussion of the age of flooring materials in buildings.
• Piquet Wall Construction: See this photo of piquet wall construction - involving timber-framed wall construction with long top girts, diagonal timber bracing, and small diameter logs placed vertically along with concrete chinking to fill in the wall plane.
• Plank House Construction: weblog from plankhouse.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/plank-house-construction/ and where plank houses were built by native Americans, see
  Large 1:6 Scale Plank House Construction / P8094228, Photographer: Mike Meuser
  06/12/2007 documented at yurokplankhouse.com where scale model Museum quality Yurok Plank Houses are being sold to raise money for the Blue Creek - Ah Pah Traditional Yurok Village project.
• Re-Bath, tub lining products is a bath tub relining manufacturer and distributor located in Tempe, Arizona - see rebath.com
• Rubblestone Wall Filler: See this Lartigue House using exterior-exposed rubblestone filler between vertical timbers of a post and beam-framed Canadian building.
• Slips, Trips, Missteps and Their Consequences, Second Edition, Gary M. Bakken, H. Harvey Cohen,A. S. Hyde, Jon R. Abele, ISBN-13: 978-1-933264-01-1 or ISBN 10: 1-933264-01-2, available from the publisher, Lawyers ^ Judges Publishing Company,Inc., www.lawyersandjudges.com sales@lawyersandjudges.com and also from the InspectAPedia Bookstore (Amazon.com)
• The Stairway Manufacturers' Association, (877) 500-5759, provides a pictorial guide to the stair and railing portion of the International Residential Code. [copy on file as http://www.stairways.org/pdf/2006%20Stair%20IRC%20SCREEN.pdf ] -
• What Mold and Allergens Look Like: mold identification photos to help identify mold - choosing what to sample in buildings
• How to Clean Moldy Wood Framing & Sheathing How to clean/seal mold from/on exposed lumber or plywood subfloor or roof sheathing indoors - some suggestions based on our field and laboratory research
• Lighting, proper use of: proper aiming of a good flashlight can disclose hard to see but toxic light or white mold colonies on walls.
• Manufactured & Modular Homes: Modular Building Systems Association, MBSA, modularhousing.com, is a trade association promoting and providing links to contact modular builders in North America. Also see the Manufactured Home Owners Association, MHOAA, at www.mhoaa.us. The Manufactured Home Owners Association of America is a National Organization dedicated to the protection of the rights of all people living in Manufactured Housing in the United States.
• Mold spores in the Home - a Photo ID Library for detection and identification of mold allergens.
• How to Find and Test For Mold in buildings A "how to" photo and text primer on finding and choosing the right spots to test for mold in buildings
• Stuff that is not mold but is often mistaken for it - things you may not want to test. Also, not all "black mold" is toxic - here are examples of harmless black mold.
• Simple Adhesive Tape Sampling of Moldy Surfaces - how to send a mold sample to our lab
• Mold Sampling Methods in the Indoor Environment - In-depth article: detailed critique of popular mold testing methods - Is your mold test kit worth the bother?
• Mold-Resistant Building Practices, advice from an expert on how to prevent mold after a building flood and how to prevent mold growth in buildings by selection of building materials and by anti-mold construction details.
• Slips, Trips, Missteps and Their Consequences, Gary M. Bakken, H. Harvey Cohen, Jon R. Abele, Alvin S. Hyde, Cindy A. LaRue, Lawyers and Judges Publishing; 2 edition (April 2006), ISBN-10: 1933264012 ISBN-13: 978-1933264011
• Steps and Stairways, Cleo Baldon & Ib Melchior, Rizzoli, 1989.
• The Staircase, Ann Rinaldi
  
• Common Sense Stairbuilding and Handrailing, Fred T. Hodgson
• The Art of Staircases, Pilar Chueca
• Building Stairs, by pros for pros, Andy Engel
• A Simplified Guide to Custom Stairbuilding, George R. Christina
• Basic Stairbuilding, Scott Schuttner
  
• The Staircase (two volumes), John Templar, Cambridge: the MIT Press, 1992
• The Staircase: History and Theories, John Templar, MIT Press 1995
• Steps and Stairways, Cleo Baldon & Ib Melchior, Rizzoli, 1989.
• "The Dimensions of Stairs", J. M. Fitch et al., Scientific American, October 1974.
• "Weather-Resistive Barriers [copy on file as /interiors/Weather_Resistant_Barriers_DOE.pdf ] - ", how to select and install housewrap and other types of weather resistive barriers, U.S. DOE
• Weaver: Beaver Board and Upson Board: Beaver Board and Upson Board: History and Conservation of Early Wallboard, Shelby Weaver, APT Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 2/3 (1997), pp. 71-78, Association for Preservation Technology International (APT), available online at JSTOR.
• What Style Is It?: A Guide to American Architecture, Rev., John C. Poppeliers, S. Allen Chambers, Wiley; Rev Sub edition (October 6, 2003), ISBN-10: 0471250368, ISBN-13: 978-0471250364
• ...