High winds cause my 20 year old brick home to leak water through the reduced cement volume in the head joints. Water runs through head joints, down inside of brick wall, then leaks under the sill plate & out into the garage.
The previous owner poured a 33 ft side walk against the garage wall, damming up the weep holes.
I have removed Sheetrock & cut 1 ft square inspection holes in the 5/8” sheeting @ sill plates and see the water actually building up between the inside of bottom course of brick & sill plate.
Also cut several 1ft sq inspection holes, 10 ft high through wall (22 ft gable end) & you can see daylight through some of the brick head joints, also have squirted garden hose on out side of bricks & you can see the water pouring in.
We have high wind & rain storms here in the Oklahoma panhandle which causes this problem.
My question is can I point extra cement and fill in the (3/8”) recessed mortar design to a almost flush concave design which would add some volume to these poorly filed head joints without grinding the mortar and get good adhesion. So not really a re-pointing issue, but a filling in issue.
Convert recessed brick mortar to concave mortar design to decrease water intrusion due to high winds
brickleakmortar
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Best Answer
There’s no reason a new mortar mix will not adhere and perform adequately if, 1) the joint is cleaned properly, 2) proper mix AND installation is used, 3) infiltration is not caused by settlement
1) You emphasize that it’s not a repointing issue. That makes me believe you’re not going to clean the existing mortar joint...bad idea. In fact, you have 3 sides of those mortar joints to clean.
2) Here is a link from Cemex that explains the types of mortar. You’ll want an exterior mortar that can be troweled concave. (Concave helps “squish” the mortar into the block and provides a hard sealed surface to shed the water. As you know, the recessed mortar joint allows water to lay on the brick and wind will “push” it into the building.)
https://www.cemexusa.com/products-and-services/cement/product-specifications/type-n-s-m-masonry-cement-and-mortar
Btw, pay attention to their discussion about when to strike the mortar so you don’t remove the moisture, which will cause cracking, etc.
3) I suspect you have a greater problem than the type of mortar joint. If water is “gushing in” when you squirt the wall, the joints must have significant cracks between the mortar and brick.
With brick veneer walls, we know they are going to leak...somewhat...that’s why a moisture barrier is installed with weep holes.
We have removed sections of the interior wall to re-install new studs, plywood, and moisture barrier...along with new ties drilled into the back of the brick veneer. (Btw, it was a two story building.) This is extremely difficult and time consuming, but may be your only course.
Lastly, I’d do a test section and see how it goes. Give it time to cure and see if it works.