Problem with brick veneer II

[mgbinspect]

For some peculiar reason, I wasn't able to add a little educational info to the original thread - some database error.

So, I guess this is a continuation of the original thread:

Again,

If there are horizontal cracks, which confirm that the brickwork has bulged outward since it set, and the veneer seems loose and unstable, repairs are needed asap.

If, however, there are no cracks or gaps in the "bed" (horizontal) joints and the veneer seems to be solid, then it was installed or shifted while green to set that way. It's a cosmetic condition.

There are a number of ways this could have occurred:

1. When masons have to deal framing that is not plumb or projections beyond the wall framing plane, they usually do one of two things:

A. Clip off the backs of bricks until they get past the projection (the preferred method, because no one knows it's been done but the installer).

B. "Twig" (set) the line outward, and slowly roll the veneer out to clear the projection) - an unsightly Neanderthal approach, which only makes sense if the roll will be very slight and clipping bricks is, therefore, too difficult.

2. Then there are a number of things that could have caused the masonry to shift, while green, to set, as you see this veneer:

- As Kevin suggested, laying too many courses while the work is green, or similarly, "striking" (tooling or finishing) the joints while too green, can permit the work to bulge out. Usually, if this begins to happen, there's no stopping it and the work will fall out of the wall while green. I've actually had both things happen to me early in my brick laying days.

- While rather remote, an apprentice could have been accidentally "crowding" (pushing outward, with the top edge of his brick) the line that everyone is using as a guide to install the brick.

[Jim Katen]

" . . . - While rather remote, an apprentice could have been accidentally "crowding" (pushing outward, with the top edge of his brick) the line that everyone is using as a guide to install the brick. "

I will confess to having done that myself.

I have laid brick in the past but I was never any good at it.

[mgbinspect]

I imagine anyone that has installed brick, myself included, has done it. It takes practice to consistently lay bricks a hairs breadth aways from the line.