DON’T SUFFOCATE YOUR BRICKS

Quick question : which house from the three little pigs’ fairy tale survives the Big-Bad-Wolf’s huffing & puffing? Answer: the house that was built of bricks.

This story is so embedded in our western psyche that today brick is still viewed as the best, toughest, most durable material available for the construction of buildings. Builders and designers also know that brick is expensive and not necessarily the best option as far as thermal efficiency so, most times when you drive through a newer development (1990’s onward) you’ll only see the front-face/street-side of the house covered with brick.

The thing about bricks as well as other masonry materials such as Concrete Masonry Units (CMU’s : which are more commonly called “cinder block” – “concrete block” – “block”) is that they need to breathe. Many people don’t realize that brick is strong but it’s not a completely “weather-tight, water-tight” material, in fact it absorbs water when it rains and then releases that moisture back out again when the sun and weather warm up the wall.

When brick/masonry walls can’t “breathe” the moisture that gets trapped inside the walls can start to degrade and compromise the brick leading to a variety of repairs later down the road. If the brick is simply a veneer (i.e., it does NOT structurally support the building but is simply an outer covering of the building) then the problem is not as severe as when the brick walls do indeed support the structure. Recently (May 28th, 2023) a portion of a historic, 116-year-old, six-story apartment building in Davenport Iowa collapsed killing three and leaving dozens of others homeless…this building was one where the bricks were structural and not a veneer : investigators think that the painted bricks may have been a factor.

So, when you’re looking at the brick that covers your house or commercial property and it seems to have been recently painted or treated in some way to increase the “curb appeal” then you need to ask the owners for specifics : when was it done…was it done by professionals…what product/material was used?

Remember bricks need to breath like you & me!