White Efflouresence (sp?) Any Cure?

dakzaag

In the fall of 2007 I put 3 foot of brick around my neighbors house. Since I drive by the house at least once a day I monitor/admire the brickwork regularly.

From time to time I see this white sheen on the brick, then it disappears. Asked the neighbor about it and he hasn't even noticed it. Today the stuff is brighter and whiter than usual. I recently took pictures of the house for a web site I'm working on and the pictures show no residue visible at all.

(more practice with pictures)

Today



Several weeks ago.



I could post 4 more pictures of the same stuff all around the house. Since my neighbor is not complaining (best guy in the world by the way) I am looking to learn what I can do about the situation (if anything) and maybe learn a little more about some of the factors contributing to this chalky residue.

This was completed in fall of 2007 so 16 months of new building bloom. Seems like it is time for that flower to die. We did get 6 inches of rain over three days last week if that might contribute to the issue. The weather then changed to single digits for several days then warmed up late last week. Seems like the stuff washes off with the next rain or just evaporates. (HO said he thought it was frost, but it warmed up late last week, so I'm thinking the frost is long gone.)

Is there anything I can do to prevent this? If the HO were fussy and mad, how would I solve the problem and keep it from coming back. Any experience with this would be helpful.

__________________
D K & Sons
The maintenance schedule for brick
1. Stand back and say "man that looks nice!"
2. Repeat as often as needed.

macatawacab

what flashing detail did you use from the brick ledge to supporting wall? Are the weeps clean? Did you keep the cavity clean or did it fill with mortar and holds moisture?

the problem is the brick is wet. Could be water coming down the siding is getting behind it. There are several different reasons. Was the brick fully vitrified? or was it a soft brick? Where did the brick come from? For instance Belden Brick here in the midwest rarely has this problem because of the way they fire the brick. You pay more but you get what you pay for.

macatawacab

Looking at the picture again that corner is just wet looking. Could be water coming off that roof is hitting the "J" at the side of the window and getting behind the brick. Somehow water is getting behing the brick and the brick is not breathing enough causing the efflourescence.

Let me know about the weeps. Have seen spiders block weeps and cause problems too.

dakzaag

GC installed Al. L flashing I just laid up to a 2X4 screwed to the wall. Haven't checked the weeps, but with only 3 feet of brick I would not think there is enough mortar to plug the drainage all around the house.


The brick were from Hansen, which is not as qood a quality as most Belden, but they seemed completely fired. I cut all the angles for the gable and round window, nothing out of the ordinary that I recall. Not sure where the white is coming from.

__________________
D K & Sons
The maintenance schedule for brick
1. Stand back and say "man that looks nice!"
2. Repeat as often as needed.

dakzaag

Its all around the house...





I can only see one or two weeps in these close up pictures. No weeps were called for, so i just left out a head joint about every third brick.

I might have to stop by with a margin trowel and check out the weeps.

__________________
D K & Sons
The maintenance schedule for brick
1. Stand back and say "man that looks nice!"
2. Repeat as often as needed.

macatawacab

OK, what about the flashing detail? Did you run a membrane from the brick ledge up the wall continuous along the wall so the water can find the weeps/head joints? Are the head joints clear or did they fill with mort?

what did you use for ties and are they clear? did you create mortar bridges that now conduct water to the brick?

If you are looking for a fix that won't cost (don't we always) maybe you can remove a piece of vinyl and a couple of bricks, use a bright flash and look from the top down to the weeps you made. that will tell you a lot about what is going on.

Chris Johnson

Well, somehow moisture is getting behind the brick.

The landscaping is too high.

Check the flashing, check the caulking detail.

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Chris

house bldr

Notice how it is worse under the windows? I would check to see that it was flashed up under the window and j-channel and down over the brick ledge flashing

macatawacab

I keep looking at the picture (brick problems really bother me), how did you do that rowlock to siding transition? what holds the bottom of the last siding row where is meets the rowlock? Any chance the rowlock tips back to the house instead of away from the house>

Tscarborough

It looks like a sprinkler issue.

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DQM

no gutter on bump out inside corner rollock taking a lot of water on top
( dont like rollocks. me I would pull them and replace with 3" x 5" sill )
stop the moisture nad the effloresence will go away.

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Winchester

Is that caused by moisture behind the bricks coming through?

Does that mean the brick is more permeable (?) than the mortar?

Sorry for the questions, just want to learn stuff.

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Ryan

jomama

It's not the easiest to tell from the pictures, but I think the rowlock sill may not have enough pitch on it. We always set our at 15 degrees + because I've fixed enough old brick veneer jobs that leaked water back.

DQM

Is that caused by moisture behind the bricks coming through
?
moisture in the brick. where its coming from dont know more than likley rowlock.
when it evaporates then leaving the salt on the surface.

Does that mean the brick is more permeable (?) than the mortar?
In my opinion yes.

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TaitINC

Would you be able to get a close up of where the roof meets that window? The pictures of that area are far away, but it seems to be done incorrectly. If the bottom flashing is done wrong the water could get behind the siding run across the back of the siding and down behind the brick.

denver 2

Here are my 2cents! Some brick tend to do this more than others simply because of there salt content. The next time you lay up a simalr wall I would suggest that one brick under the sill you run a piece of flashing the entire length and then add weeps every third brick and then your sill on top. This will prevent any bulk water leaks. Even with this detail you may still encounter the problem simply from water saturation from the exterior in on some brick that have high salt content. Hope this helps.

dakzaag

Thanks for all the comments, I wont try to answer all the questions, but this is what stands out.

The residue is from moisture behind the brick. It most likely is coming from the row lock. I do not like a steep pitch on row lock, it only takes a slight angle to make the water run off. The portion of the house with brick to the eaves has little or no residue.

I haven't looked closely at the flashing detail, it was done after I left. I am most concerned about plugged weep holes and possibly mortar dams holding water behind the brick.

Since the HO isn't worried, I am just trying to learn, but if water is setting back there problems will eventually come. I want to review my process and make sure I am doing all I can to prevent this.

The GC has 20 years plus of very high quality work, but that doesn't mean he and I can't learn something here.

Sorry TS, no sprinklers here, tonight the low is around 25 F not much need for water yet, and this HO wouldn't water his grass no matter what.

While row lock may not be the best sill material, it is still the most economical and looks nice so I need to learn the strengths and weakness' of it.

Thanks for all the thoughts and input, I think I am picking up some good feedback.

__________________
D K & Sons
The maintenance schedule for brick
1. Stand back and say "man that looks nice!"
2. Repeat as often as needed.

MALCO.New.York

I have seen that before and it is usually the worst on a Morning where the Dew is abundant!

It looks very similar to a firing glaze used on pottery.

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Grout

+1.Also after a period of time it will cease.

dakzaag

I stopped back today to look closer. We haven't had any rain since the 6 inches a few weeks back. Last night we got just enough to wet the sidewalk.

The chalk was washed away for the most part. I took a picture of the flashing.


Also check out the pitch. Full bubble plus, should be plenty.

I can't believe water is getting behind the brick, but I would believe after a good soaking rain that the brick has absorbed plenty of water. As this water evaporates it could carry the salts back out with it and leave a residue.

I checked the weep holes, I could poke the back wall with a margin trowel on all the ones I checked, so the weeps are not plugged. I spoke with the HO about the residue, they did notice the last event as being a little extreme. I might try to test the weeps to see if they let any moisture out after a rain.

Here is a close up of the window detail.

__________________
D K & Sons
The maintenance schedule for brick
1. Stand back and say "man that looks nice!"
2. Repeat as often as needed.