photo: kelvin chan
Innovations
Innovations for Brick Performance By Jon Eakes
There is a lot more to brick veneer than the brick Brick veneer on a residential building serves a lot of functions, but individual trades often unknowingly sabotage some of those functions or the durability of the brick. This happens in new construction, as well as during renovations or maintenance.
Hard Shell Protection
Drainage
Drying
Brick and stone are the most durable of wall
A brick veneer is built with an air space between
There is a poorly understood reality that this
coverings, withstanding both nature and kids.
it and the wall, and most professionals know
same air space helps to dry out any moisture
Everybody gets that part right except that
this is a drainage plane. But some trades fail to
in the cavity either through air movement or
painters using non-permeable coatings over
provide flashing and drainage capacity at the
simply by keeping water in the non-organic
brick can set the stage for freeze/thaw to
bottom or over windows and doors to make
brick and off the sheathing until it migrates
destroy the brick itself. Efforts to block insects
this work, while too large a quantity of mortar
back outward.
or rodents from passing through weep holes
droppings can block the best of planned drain-
can be poorly executed and sabotage things
age routes.
such as drainage and pressure equalization.
18 Home BUILDER Spring 2017