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 Mobile ViewSTRUCTURAL INSPECTIONS & DEFECTS ADVANCED INSPECTION METHODS AGE of a BUILDING - how to determine ARCHITECTURE & BUILDING COMPONENT ID BARK SIDE DOWN on DECKS, TRIM, STEPS BASEMENT WATERPROOFING BEST CONSTRUCTION PRACTICES GUIDE BRICK FOUNDATIONS & WALLS BRICK STRUCTURAL WALLS Loose, Bulged Structural Brick Wall Bond Courses Structural Brick Walls Bulged Bowed Collapse Repair of Brick Walls on Buildings Brick Thermal Expansion Cracking BRICK VENEER WALL Loose, Bulged Brick Veneer Walls ve Structural Brick Brick Veneer Wall Construction Brick Veneers, Thin, & Engineered Brick Wall Panels Cracks & Movement in Veneer Walls Cracks, Brick Veneer Diagnosis Bulged, Bowed Brick Veneer Walls BRICK WALL DRAINAGE WEEP HOLES Weep Holes in Brick Walls Brick Veneer Walls with No Drains Brick Wall Weep Hole Location Brick Wall Drainage, Flashing & Ventilation Products Brick Veneer Wall Through-Ventilation BUCKLED FOUNDATIONS due to INSULATION? BUILDING SAFETY HAZARDS GUIDE BUILDING SETTLEMENT CHIMNEY CHASE Construction & Defects CHIMNEY INSPECTION DIAGNOSIS REPAIR COLUMNS & POSTS, DEFECTS CONCRETE FOUNDATIONS CONCRETE FOUNDATIONS, PRE-CAST Cracks, Checking or Splitting Beams & Log Homes CRAWL SPACES DECK & PORCH CONSTRUCTION Deck Construction Best Practices DECK COLLAPSE Case Study DECK FINISHES COATINGS PRESERVATIVES DECK FLASHING LEAKS, ROT Case Study DECKS, ROOFTOP CONSTRUCTION DEBRIS STAINING on ROOFS DEFINITIONS of Mobile Home, Doublewide, Modular, Panelized DEFINITIONS of ENGINEERED WOOD OSB LVL etc DEW POINT CALCULATION for WALLS DEW POINT TABLE - CONDENSATION POINT GUIDE DISASTER BUILDING INSPECTION & REPAIR SAFEY EARTHQUAKE DAMAGED FOUNDATIONS ENERGY SAVINGS in BUILDINGS ENGINEERED WOOD Flooring ENGINEERED WOOD Products FIRE DAMAGE vs MOLD DAMAGE FLOOD DAMAGE ASSESSMENT, SAFETY & CLEANUP FLOODS IN BUILDINGS-mold FLOOR, ENGINEERED WOOD & LAMINATES FLOOR FRAMING & SUBFLOOR for TILE FLOOR TYPES & DEFECTS FLOOR TILE ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION FLOOR TILE HISTORY & INGREDIENTS FOOTING & FOUNDATION DRAINS FOOTINGS EXPOSED, Repair Methods FOUNDATION BULGE or LEAN MEASUREMENTS FOUNDATION CONSTRUCTION TYPES FOUNDATION CONTRACTORS, ENGINEERS FOOTING & FOUNDATION DRAINS FOOTINGS EXPOSED, Repair Methods FOUNDATION CRACKS & DAMAGE GUIDE FOUNDATION DEFECTS OF OMISSION - MISSING FOUNDATION FAILURES by TYPE & MATERIAL FOUNDATION FAILURES by MOVEMENT TYPE FOUNDATION INSPECTION METHODS FOUNDATION INSULATION OPTIONS FOUNDATION MATERIALS, Age, Types FOUNDATION REPAIR METHODS FOUNDATION SETTLEMENT FOUNDATION WATERPROOFING FRAMING DAMAGE, INSPECTION, REPAIR FRAMING DETAILS for BETTER INSULATION FRAMING DETAILS for DOUBLE WALL HOUSES FRAMING CONNECTORS & JOIST HANGERS FRAMING FASTENERS, NAILS, SCREWS, & HIDDEN FRAMING & SUBFLOOR for TILE FRAMING MATERIALS, Age, Types FRAMING METAL STUD PERFORMANCE FRAMING METHODS, Age, Types FRAMING SIZE & Spacing, Age, Types FRAMING TABLES, SPANS for DECKS FRENCH DRAINS FROST HEAVES, FOUNDATION, SLAB FRT PLYWOOD GALVANIC SCALE & METAL CORROSION GLUES ADHESIVES, EXTERIOR CONSTRUCTION GRADING & SITE WORK, EXTERIOR GUTTERS & DOWNSPOUTS HOUSE PARTS, DEFINITIONS HOUSEWRAP INSTALLATION DETAILS ICE DAM PREVENTION I-JOISTS, Wood Roof Floor INSULATION IDENTIFICATION GUIDE INSULATION INSPECTION & IMPROVEMENT LEAD POISONING HAZARDS GUIDE LEED GREEN BUILDING CERTIFICATION LOG HOME GUIDE LVL Laminated Veneer Lumber, Beams MOBILE HOMES, DOUBLEWIDES, TRAILERS MODULAR HOME CONSTRUCTION MOISTURE CONTROL in BUILDINGS NOISE / SOUND DIAGNOSIS & CURE OSB - Oriented Strand Board PANELIZED CONSTRUCTION PLASTER BULGES & PILLOWS PLASTER, LOOSE FALL HAZARDS PLYWOOD Roof, Wall, Floor Decks & Sheathing PORCH CONSTRUCTION & SCREENING PRE-CUT & KIT HOMES Preservative-Treated Framing Lumber RAILINGS, DECK & PORCH RAILINGS, STAIRWAY RETAINING WALL DESIGNS, TYPES, DAMAGE RETAINING WALL GUARD RAILINGS ROT, FUNGUS, TERMITES ROT, TIMBER FRAME SEARS KIT HOUSES SEPTIC & CESSPOOL SAFETY SHEATHING, FIBERBOARD SHEATHING, Gypsum board SHEATHING Homasote & Other Board SHEATHING, OSB SHEATHING, Plywood SHEATHING, FOIL FACED - VENTS SIDING, Sheathing Identification - Photo Guide SINKHOLES, WARNING SIGNS SINKING BUILDINGS SLAB CRACK EVALUATION SLAB CRACK REPAIR Splits in Structural Wood Beams STAIN & BIODETERIORATION AGENT CATALOG STAINS on BUILDINGS - QUICK GUIDE STAIN DIAGNOSIS on BUILDING EXTERIORS STAIRS, RAILINGS, LANDINGS, RAMPS STONE CLEANING METHODS STONE FOUNDATIONS STONE VENEER WALLS STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION STRESS SKIN INSULATED PANELS STUCCO WAll FAILURES DUE TO WEATHER STUCCO WALL METHODS & INSTALLATION STUCCO OVER FOAM INSULATION STUCCO PAINT FAILURES SUMP PUMPS GUIDE SWEATING (CONDENSATION) on PIPES, TANKS TERMITES, ROT THERMAL EXPANSION of MATERIALS THERMAL MASS in BUILDINGS TRUSS UPLIFT, ROOF TRUSSES, Floor & Roof VAPOR BARRIERS & CONDENSATION in BUILDINGS VENTILATION in buildings VINYL Siding or PLASTIC Window ODORS in buildings VINYL CHLORIDE HEALTH INFO WATER BARRIERS, EXTERIOR BUILDING WATER ENTRY in BUILDINGS WIND ENERGY SYSTEMS WIND TURBINES & LIGHTNING WIND WASHING INSULATION At EAVES WINDOWS & DOORS, Age, Types WINTERIZE A BUILDING More Information |
This article explains the purpose of drainage openings in solid brick walls and in some brick veneer walls: brick wall weep holes and recommends their use in new construction and in some brick wall repairs or retrofits. InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers nor with topics or services discussed at this website.© Copyright 2012 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use page top links to major topics or use links at the left of each page to navigate within topics and documents at this website. Green links show where you are in a document series or at this website. Weep Holes in Structural Brick & Brick Veneer WallsOur page top sketch, courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates, shows both the reasons for and the typical design details used in weep openings on brick walls. Readers of the article series BRICK FOUNDATIONS & WALLS should see these detailed articles on brick veneer walls and brick structural walls: BRICK STRUCTURAL WALL Loose Bulged and BRICK VENEER WALL Loose, Bulged and BRICK WALL DRAINAGE WEEP HOLES and also Brick Thermal Expansion Cracking. Also see this close companion article: FOUNDATION CRACK EVALUATION which discusses in detail the process of evaluating foundation cracks and signs of foundation damage by examining the crack size, shape, pattern, and location. And see BRICK VENEER WALL INSULATION. For stone wall or stone veneer wall onstruction, diganosis, repair advice see STONE FOUNDATIONS and STONE VENEER WALLS According to the Masonry Design Manual, weep holes are
At below left we show a brick wall (a veneer in this case) with weep openings at regular intervals at two heights above ground level. Below right is a closeup of one of the drainage openings.
Damaged Brick Veneer Walls - No Provision for Weep OpeningsNot All Brick Veneers Lacking Drainage are Damaged. The brick walls of the New York home in our photo at below left contain no weep openings. Bricks were laid tight against a solid masonry block wall with "faux" bond courses to the left of the chimney and all stretcher brick courses to the right of the chimney. Walls both left and right of the chimney were constructed with no drainage. Bricks were mortared against the masonry block structural walls of the home with no air space and no drainage provision. This is a brick veneer on block structure approximately 30 years old. While the mason omitted weep openings, we did not find any evidence of water or frost damage to the brick veneer except at another wall where splash-up from roof spillage had worn mortar joints.
Traditional structural brick walls such as at the building shown at above right are comprised of two or more wythes [defined below] of brick laid in parallel and reinforced by bond courses at regular intervals. Such walls typically include an air gap between the exterior wythes of brick - the wall outside surface, and the wall interior. That space allowed water that leaked into the wall to run down the wall interior and drain at the wall bottom - provided that the wall bottom included weep openings or drainage. At BRICK FOUNDATIONS & WALLS we describe the collapse of the structural brick walled building shown at right. Definition of wythe or brick wythe:
If you look at a brick masonry wall, one brick thickness of the wall is one wythe. A brick veneer wall constructed using full-dimension bricks will be one brick wythe in thickness (of the veneer). The total wall thickness will include the veneer wythe plus the thickness of the wall structure itself. A structural brick wall is normally two or more wythes of brick in thickness, usually separated by an air space of about an inch to form a thicker, more dry wall. In the cross section of the collapsing brick structural wall at above right you can see multiple wythes of brick. More brick and brick wall definitions and details are at BRICK VENEER WALL Loose, Bulged.
Where do the Brick Wall Drainage Openings (Weep holes) Belong?
Guide to Brick Wall Drainage Opening, Flashing & Ventilation ProductsTom Tamlyn, a residential building products manufacturer, sent us the two plastic weep hole covers shown below. At below left we show a brick wall weep hole cover intended for new construction. The openings are intended to keep critters out of the veneer wall; At below right we show the same device from the back so that you can see its construction.
Brick Veneer Wall Through-Ventilation - Airflow Removes MoistureIn addition to providing weep openings to permit moisture or water drainage out of brick veneer walls and some structural brick walls, modern construction practices may include a more effective means of moisture removal from an attached veneer wall used in wood frame construction: vent openings are provided at the top of the wall before the brick veneer wall is constructed against the building. These wall top openings behind the brick veneer vent into the building's attic or roof space to permit moisture to escape from behind the veneer. Air entering through vents at the bottom of the veneer wall flows upwards behind the brick veneer, passing through openings at the wall top into the attic or roof space where it is vented outdoors through a ridge vent or other roof venting system. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Weep Holes & Drainage in Brick WallsQuestion: Where can I buy weep inserts?Hi I'm like to know where I can buy weep inserts for the bricks around my house. - J.S. Reply: Several manufacturers provide brick wall weep hole systems that assure that moisture or water behind the brick wall or brick veneer can drain out of the wall while at the same time insects or larger critters are kept from entering the walls. We describe Tamlyn brick wall weep opening inserts used in new wall construction and a second product used in retrofits at Guide to Brick Wall Drainage Opening, Flashing & Ventilation Products. Here are some brick wall weep insert product sources:
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