OT - Any masons on here? Question about tuck pointing....

odie91

What's the best way to repair this?   It's like a front veneer of the bricks have come off.  The building was built around 1955.

  Should I:

- Take the bricks out, and replace them?   Some of the bricks are below the level of the pavement (not sure how that happened, maybe the pavement was built up later on) -- so it would  be hard to get to replace the lower bricks.   

- Hollow the damaged areas out (taking out the brick and mortar) and replace it wholly with just mortar?   The cosmetics might look off, but I'm okay with that.    Type S or Type N for this job?

- Other

Thanks in advance

odie91

SGH

I am. Just not a brick mason. 

thetrim

Thought you might want the secret handshake and the location of the Holy Grail.

Komokaegger

It looks like someone has tried patching this before. There should have been some type of expansion joint material between the asphalt and the brick. Not sure where you’re located but it appears water has got into the brick and then frozen causing it to fracture. Also you could be having movement between the asphalt and brick due to heat. It doesn’t look like you would have much brick left to work with if you tried removing them. 

ewyllins

thought you were pointing to the east

pgprescott

It is never advisable to lay brick below grade IMO. Particularly in areas of the country that experience freezing. That's toast. Removal required. I don't really think the flexible asphalt is a major factor, especially if the opposing side of the drive is bordered by soil.

Masonry construction leaks and wicks water. It should be designed to allow the water to migrate to a VB and then downward to a flashing and weep hole system. It appears as though the water has no where to go and then froze and spalled the brick as mentioned above. You are going to need to seek on site advice I'm afraid. If this is against wood framing you may have rot issues on the back side. If it is veneered over concrete, you can repair it but it's a pain. Make sure there is flashing above grade and weep holes for the moisture?water to escape the wall cavity.

Good Luck!

northGAcock

This is where my mind went from the Post heading. Sorry no help on the brick side.

https://youtu.be/tkd0b1Vm7_A

lkapigian

My first thought----My apologies, no help on the bricks either

https://youtu.be/4j8m8L8B7pM

MaskedMarvel

Salting the asphalt in icy conditions can cause that damage as well. 

Thatgrimguy

Definitely thought this was going to be a Freemason thread.

pgprescott

MaskedMarvel said:

Salting the asphalt in icy conditions can cause that damage as well. 

 Agreed.

The salt is just a symptom though. It simply aides in creating the freeze thaw issue within the face brick. 

SGH

northGAcock said:

This is where my mind went from the Post heading. Sorry no help on the brick side.

https://youtu.be/tkd0b1Vm7_A

Did any of y’all notice what the lady in the crowd was wearing? Overall shorts. You can see her at about 12 seconds in. I have a keen eye for such. 

nolaegghead

nolaegghead

alaskanassasin

Could have been caused by a sloppy weed whacker operator as well....

ckali7

SGH said:

I am. Just not a brick mason. 

. . .

MaskedMarvel

nolaegghead said:

My house circa 1930 has: Brick veneer

Eoin

The brick courses at / below ground level would be engineering brick in this country. There is no point trying to save those bricks, except as a very temporary measure. Nola's schematic is good. To do the job properly, you need to cut back the asphalt and replace the damaged bricks, then reinstate the path properly.