Bruce are you a contractor or Mason /
You are coming off sounding as if you could care less if places end up with Water Intrusion and mold.
If these weeps are not installed properly the results are seen often with in a few years with all the issues that pop up.
This is a serious issue and should not be taken lightly as I am tired of seeing contractors act like weeps are some kind of personal choice.
Please rethink your position before a Judge does it for you.
I have lots of pictures that I need to go back and dig up sometime soon just because there are other guys who may feel the way you do.
Go over to Carl Browns forum and study up.
Getting the Water Out
Let’s assume that you’ve put in your perfect flashing. That is only part of the job. Now we need to get the water back from behind the wall. We need to create little tunnels and make sure that the pathways to the tunnels are not blocked.
When laying brick, if too much mortar is used, excess mortar can fall behind the wall as the brick is pushed into place. These mortar droppings can’t be removed. If enough mortar falls behind the wall, a solid barrier can form. The trapped water then looks for a place to go. I have seen where this water has built up, entered the frame wall and traveled under a hardwood floor some 10 to 12 inches. The water finds a seam in the subfloor and then drips into the ](brick veneer). Imagine what will happen to this house in a short period of time!
Weep holes allow water to escape to the outside of a brick wall. They should be placed as low as possible where a course of brick sits on top of a horizontal barrier (foundation, or a window or door lintel.) These weep holes should be placed every 24 inches.
“It is our opinion that weep holes were not provided in the masonry veneer siding at the base of the foundation when the wall was built. Evidence suggests that weep holes were drilled after construction of the wall as evidenced by chipped brick and brick dust observed beneath the holes. Today’s commonly accepted construction standards require weep holes (not less than 3/16” in diameter) every 33 inches. Flashing is required to direct water toward the weep holes. No evidence of flashing was observed. Installation of weep holes after construction may cause more damage than benefit (if the flashing is not present it may be inconsequential and if the flashing is present, it may have been damaged by drilling into the wall). You should consult with the county building inspector to ascertain his observations during his routine inspection. We also recommend consulting with a licensed and competent masonry contractor about this apparent construction defect, its consequences, and the options (if any) for correction. A guidance document is attached at the end of this report for your information."
Bob, you are slipping, try to read and understand before posting…
Here is what I posted and you missed:
“I include with every report on a brick house that the presence of or proper installation of weep holes is not inspected and that even if they are present they will be blocked on the back side by loose falling mortar.”
Around here more often than not, weep holes and flashing are not installed properly, or even present.
More often that not, I do not see any major moisture intrustion, issues, or elevated moisture levels.
I do note lack of flashing or weep holes.
Personally, I do not think it’s a major problem. Most times, moisture will evaporate.
Why is there not a similar standard for stone cladding? Think about it. How often do you seen stone cladding properly flashed at the roof transition or over openings? See any weep holes on stone cladding or at the mortar joints?
For what’s its worth I do note these issues as well. Sometimes I do see moisture issues at sone claddding caused from lack of flashing or weep holes.
We have a few high end builders that use real stone with an air gap. Most around here are manufactured stone stuck to mortar which is one type of stucco. These leak often due to no weep screeds or drainage planes mostly on the north side of the structure or where lots of wind driven rain hits.
The gap between brick and the house is the reason we see few issues there. The one inch gap is actually closer to 1/2 inch in reality.
Bruce, I have been involved with new construction my entire career. There are very few mason contractors that install weep holes where they should be installed, and even fewer who actually flash the area in addition to the weep holes. And you are right there is plenty of mortar that falls behind the brick that could prevent moisture from getting to the point where it could escape. However, I don’t think you can assume that the weep holes won’t work or are ineffective because of it.
If there are no weep holes installed you don’t even given the moisture a chance to escape where it should. And any chance is better than no chance. Therefore, I believe it is best to call out the absence of the weep holes rather than not call it out and let it come back and bite you someday.
I was called out to perform a roof inspection on multi family building with a flat roof that was a complete masonry structure. The brick walls actually carried through the roof and down through the condo units below and were part of the interior design. While there certainly were some issues and concerns with the flat roof, I also believed that the brick was absorbing moisture. There were no weep holes anywhere and no visible flashing in the brick either. Inside the apartments and common areas there were water stains running down the face of the brick as well as efflorescence stains. The condo owners also brought in a mason contractor who confirmed that the brick was a porous brick and noted that the brick required flashings and weep holes to help solve the problem.
This is a perfect example of the mason contractor not doing a proper job and the homeowner’s are stuck with a major expense to correct it.