r/masonry

I’ve got an interesting question from a client. I’m finishing off the third story of a house. Part of that is finishing this roughed in bathroom that was done, I believe, two owners prior. The end of this space is the shower. This being an exterior wall my plane was to build, insulate, vapor, cement board, tile etc. as usual. But they’ve requested leaving the brick exposed as is.

My first thought was no way. But a bit of research suggests it’s possible. The process seems very simple, too simple is some ways. Thoroughly cleaning, vacuuming, washing with soap, numerous brushings, etc. Then applying multiple layers of waterproofing agent, and/or epoxy.

My question is, has anybody actually done this and have tips, experiences, or comments on long-term viability?

He wants to match the kitchen, pic also included.

Thanks

The front flower beds of our home have soil that go all the way up to the brick, but is still substantially below the weep holes. We have a mold issue in our crawlspace so have had to encapsulate and put in a dehumidifier - but I want to redo our landscaping to be more protective against moisture.

• Do I need to dig up all the soil until I reach the cinderblocks? my husband thinks soil against the brick is fine since the weep holes are so high up. our first story flooring is also above the weep hole level. the grates go to our crawlspace
• If I do need to dig up soil, how do I grade away from the house if my sidewalks/driveway are higher?
• Do I need to edge my house with rock regardless of whether I dig up the soil? and do I need to have french drains in the rock or is just rocks sufficient? we have gutters above redirecting water from the roof

Would greatly appreciate any and all advice on steps to take to do this the right way. the overgrown grass would be replaced by an herb garden.

Just did today. How did they do? Before/After

100-year old home showing some spalling inside and old paint chipping on exterior. I would like to paint it in order to slow/ minimize brick dust. What is the simplest/safest treatment for the structure?
According to previous owners, it was re pointed in the last 20 years. Long Island, NY.

EDIT: Lime wash, never paint old brick. You guys rule!

I bought a home and property about 18 months ago, which includes a pond. The pond is completely spring fed and flows well on the driest of days. We’ve had some work done around the landscape, including cleaning up muck in the pond and overgrowth around it. This included fixing a leak next to the dam, which turned out to be layers of topsoil mixed in with layers of clay. Fixed.

After filling the pond back up, the next morning it was almost empty again. The dam had developed a leak below the boards that set the water level, in the form of a roughly 6” diameter, perfectly round hole. My guess is it was there as an overflow, but was at some point plugged up. Not sure if this was somehow connected to the other work we had done, or if so how it could be.

Given the water flows constantly, what is the best way to plug this hole? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I’m not sure this is the right sub for this? I moved into this house last fall and didn’t really notice until recently that the retaining wall seems like it’s going to collapse into my driveway sooner than later. I have a large 50+ year old maple tree on the other side of my house and we often get quite a bit of bad weather here so I’m guessing my soil is expanding beyond what this wall could handle. I don’t know.

I’m guessing it’s going to need to be completely torn out and replaced? How urgent is this, should I be calling somebody asap? Who do I even call? Do I Google masonry expert near me? Is it possible at all to reuse some of the bricks or stone or whatever it is so it can match my walkway and garden bed on the other side of my house? Is it otherwise easy to find matching brick like this? How much of my grass and soil will be removed and replaced? What exactly needs to happen here so this doesn’t happen again?

Looking to take this column apart to relieve the bricks as it started to lean quite a bit over past few years. The top paver is not glued on. But rest of the bricks appear to be glued together. What is best way to do this without damaging the bricks so they can be reused?

Also what are the chances if I dig under the lowest corner and use a car jack to jack up that corner, then reinforce the foundation with another brick or limestone screening? if I remove the top slab, and just try to lift the corner of the column which is 8 layers of 4 bricks each which would be about 1000lbs total. Obviously I'm not lifting the weight of the entire column, but just one corner. Would this work?

I am in dire need of support to make my wife happy and create a gravel patio that her TikTok algorithm has exposed her to. I am having trouble with some parts to it because of course my area where I am doing it is not a clean slate like most on TikTok.

First, I have a small concrete sidewalk leading to the garage. Is it possible to just put limestone rock over it? Do I still try to cover it with landscape fabric?

Second, the lawn had some holes in it that my dogs made. ChatGPT is saying I should use paver base to cover them before I place the fabric. Should I instead use cheap top soil to level everything out?

Third, this is my first time place blocks. The driveway is somewhat jagged but there is still a defined line. Do I place the blocks on the edge of the driveway or in the dirt?

I appreciate anyone’s support in getting this project done. Last thing, does anyone have any good recommendations for reliable sources for future projects? Either books or websites?

I am planning on building a home this year and have a set of plans, while going through the design I realized that it may be difficult to support the brick facade above my vaulted covered porch. To my understanding brick needs to be supported either by a brick ledge or by steel angle brackets. I can across the following documentation explaining how to support this wall: https://www.jlconline.com/how-to/framing/supporting-brick-veneer-on-wood-framing_o However given the vaulted ceiling below the brick wall I am not sure if I will have the space to apply the supports, or that the vaulted ceiling will be strong enough to support the weight of the brick.

For reference, the gray wall in the first picture will be brick, the green walls will be siding.

Does anyone have any advice on how to approach this? Should I consider going with thin brick or siding in this situation?

I was hoping to get some guidance and opinions on this masonry wall. Located in my client's basement, I was asked to scrape and repaint the peeled spots. I told them about the moisture issues oil paint can have on a masonry wall. I pointed to the Efflorescence accumulated on the wall, and the soft spots behind the paint. I recommended a nonoil-base paint that would allow moisture to escape. The expectation for this job that it wouldn't take more than really a day, but I have a feeling it may in the homeowners best interest to strip the wall instead of paint it. If anyone has any recommendations or resources that I could read up on that would be helpful.

Looking for advice and/or a sanity check.

A few years ago, we had our water main (and the rest of our 85-yr old galvanized plumbing) replaced. Contractor did a trenchless replacement, which resulted in a below-grade hole in our block foundation. The plumber filled the hole with an elastic waterproof sealant, but we've had a couple of minor leaks (1/4" wide, 5-10 ft rivulet) after a few heavy Pacific NW storms. The plumber claimed our block was just too porous to fully seal, though we've not had any problems with leaks over the past 15 years we've been in the house. Also, we pulled the old patch to replace / repair and the block seems reasonably solid as I've cleaned it with a wire brush.

Couple of core questions...

• (1) My plan was to replace with hydraulic cement (Drylok Fast Plug), based on similar posts/answers here. Is that the best option here?
• (2) Is a bonding agent recommended? If so, any recommendations?
• (3) I don't have access to the outside surface (it's 6-7 ft below grade). The hole depth is ~9"... 1" of soil and 8" of cinder block. Is it recommended to backfill the soil with some material to provide a surface against which to pack the hydraulic cement?

Two other indirect questions..

• (4) I'm not quite sure about the blue wire. It isn't connect to anything and (of course) isn't live, so I'm assuming it's a remnant of the trenchless process. The plumber just ran it straight along the bottom of the PVC, which seemed like another entry point for water. Going to do something different with it.
• (5) The transition from PVC pipe to PEX is sealed with what I believe is a silicone sealant. Is this standard? Seems like a sturdier connection would have made sense here.

Any of you know what these bricks are and for what purpose. I found while excavating in contaminated soils.

Is this a safe and standard way to stabilize or support a brick building that’s starting to buckle? It looks like a DIY project about to go wrong (see close-up of 2x8s)

Curious if others know more about this process - appreciate any knowledgeable input, especially from construction workers, structural engineers, masons, or contractors.

This is in Walker’s Point. I don’t live in the building, just curious whether this is considered normal or if it’s actually concerning.

UPDATE: This is the building that houses the bar Pomeroy, which is heavily patronized on the weekends. Someone in the comments shared a google earth image from a while ago that clearly shows the 2x8s already supporting the wall, so this has been here for months now. I called it in to 286-city this morning. Someone else called it in before me, so my call escalated the service request. Thanks to the person who also called it in!

Also have to do corners around new Bottom windows ( see drawings).

I have done A LOT of paver restoration jobs on traditional pavers but this stone is new to me. From what I’ve read online, one shouldn’t use a turbo nozzle on it because it will damage. So I’m wondering how I would remove all the weeds and grass from the gaps without using high pressure? This is only a small sample area of a huuuuge pool surround and patio.

Additionally, I normally do polymeric sand after cleaning but these stones have so many pits and imperfections idk if I should use that. Any advice?

We are looking at buying this new construction home. At some point before our initial walk through and now they came and did a patch job on the mortar. The issue is that the color they use does not match the original mortar. Is there anyway to this can be fixed? Or will attempting to correct this make it look worst?

This is different then how I traditionally do ribbon pointing but nonetheless here it is.

📍Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania