Weep Holes

Bigbricklayer

How many of you guys put weep holes in your walls ? And if you do what method do you use?

Tscarborough

I hope you are joking.

Big Dave

Is it that sad of a house?

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denick

Big,

That is a simple question that has quite a few different answers. There have been volumes written on weep holes, their necessity, their ineffectiveness and how it should be done.

What specific type wall were you asking about?

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6stringmason

LOL! I was thinking the same.

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jvcstone

I always put them in brick, but never stone. Why?? Because thats the way the mason I apprentist with did it, and I imagine his daddy before him. Only thing I ever saw come out of a weep joint was a mouse. In and out-- in and out-- all day long
JVC

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Woz the Painter

Do you mean weep holes with wicks or without?

Tscarborough

Your weeps are too big if a mouse can get through it.

jvcstone

Wasn't my brick job-- I was on site cutting some massive arch stones for an interior passageway. But the joint the mouse was using was a standard 3/8" head joint.--no bigger than any other on the house. Those little critters are regular Houdini's the way they can contort and squeeze into small spaces. I'm thinking one of the brickies left part of his lunch back there, and the mice were having a feast. Wouldn't have believed it could happen except I got to watch it. Home owner couldn't believe it either.
jvc

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Tscarborough

Ah. Yeah a mouse can certainly get in a 3/8 head joint weep, but they can not fit in a 1/4" tube, especially when it has a ball of copper mesh in it.

Bigbricklayer

Well like all of us masons here in southwest missouri we use splits to level our wall and I am talking about a regular brick wall from foundation to soffit. Well this is a walkout basement house all brick but the back of the house wich is where the walkout is.Well I DON"T put weep holes in my walls, but the homeowner drives a delivery truck for a block company and he talks to everyone he can and they all tell him what he wants to hear and that is if you don't have weep holes then your house is going to collect moisture.So the builder asked me to drill holes and shove a cotton rope into them so I did. Well when the builder went out to talk to the home owner before I drilled the holes it was 85degrees in the house all the windows were open and probably 85% humidity and they were complaining of a musty smell I am thinking weep holes aren't going to fix anything like that. So that is the reason for my question Do you guys use weep holes and what method do you use?Because I don't know of any masons that do use them. Thanks

Tscarborough

OK, if it wasn't a fascious question, then I will try and answer you.

The theory behind modern masonry construction is that the outer masonry veneer will leak. And it will, you can be sure of it, due to several factors:

Overly hard mortar with poor bond strength and no autogenous healing.

The differential contraction/expansion of clay versus cement (brick will expand, mortar will contract as they age), and at varying rates and different time frames.

Every single wall penetration is a potential point of moisture entry, and the standard of flashing done on residential is sorely lacking.

So the bottom line is that moisture will penetrate the masonry and will end up in the cavity between the masonry and the sheathing. That is why there is a moisture barrier on the framing, to prevent that moisture from penetrating further into the wall envelope.

I will say it again: Moisture will penetrate a modern masonry veneer.

The question then becomes: How do we deal with this moisture?

There is only one answer, and that is to make sure that ANY masonry veneered cavity wall is properly weeped. Stone, brick or CMU it doesn't matter, they will all have moisture penetration.

By properly detailing the cavity system, including flashing, mortar bridging issues, and weeps, the moisture will be allowed to exit the wall with no loss of performance of the wall.

If you do not address those issues, then you are, to be blunt, constructing a problem.

joasis

Learn something new everyday...I have seen 3 brick layers in the last year delete the weep holes, with the reasoning the house wrap makes it uneccessary...uh huh. Nice explanation, Tscarborough. I hadn't thought alot about the weep holes til this topic came up, guessing at the time..maybe they are right..heck..lots of tried and true construction techniques we grew up with have been proven wrong or uneccessary.

6stringmason

I use regular clothesline and tack it to the wall about 2' up. I do this about every 3'. On brick and stone. I still havent figured out how to put weepholes in the for cultured yet.

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Tscarborough

Cultured stone is not a cavity wall system. The only weeps you use on it are in the casing bead at the bottom; it should be weeped casing bead.

There are some products on the market to weep stucco (which is what a cultured stone wall system actually is), and they should become more common in the future.

Tommy V

If moisture is in fact going to enter the cavity between brick verneer and framing, then for the rope wicks to work the volume of moisture in that cavity would truly be scary to the whole structure!
Then would'nt some type of venting system be benificial? Vent in at the bottom, vapor and warm air out the top?

Tommy

6stringmason

No ****? Did you see the smilies at the end of my statement? lol

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Tscarborough

Well, it is a legitimate concern, 6string.

Tommy V, water vapor could be dealt with as you say, but weeps are designed to handle liquid water. As a rule, most water vapor will dissipate though the wall itself, or if prevented from doing so will condensate and run down the cavity of the wall.

Here is how it works for "real" masonry walls. With an 8" or 12" solid masonry wall, composed of soft fired brick or stone, laid up with a lime mortar, the wall soaks up moisture, then breathes it back out as the level of exterior humidity decreases. The sheer thickness of the wall prevents the moisture from penetrating to the interiors, and if it did, there was no vapor barrior to block it and cause a problem (ever hear of a cold and clammy castle?).

With modern construction, this can't happen. The wall still leaks, but there are several layers of vapor barrior (including the hard fired brick and impervious cementious mortar) to resist or trap the moisture in the wall. This is why there IS a cavity. It is a collection area for liquid moisture to accumulate, and weeps must be provided to allow it to escape in liquid form.

The cotton cord is a pretty good soulution, but you still need to make sure that the moisture is able to reach the wick. Gravel works well, but you have to keep the cavity relatively clear of mortar droppings for effective weeping. No weeps, combined with ineffective flashing will cause the liquid water to penetrate the interior sheathing and cause rot and mold to the sheathing material, the sill plate and the bottom of the studs, to say nothing of the sheetrock.

Bigbricklayer

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I guess the customer is always right.

Bigbricklayer

This is the house in question.

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