Address brick, mortar, flashing, caulking or roofing issues immediately. This could save thousands of dollars. Very often when we inspect buildings, we find extensive damage that could have been avoided entirely by repairing leaky flashing right away. Don’t wait! As soon as an issue is detected, a qualified person needs to find the cause of the problem. Most buildings are built, occupied and then left to endure the elements for years without any inspections being performed at all.
Water is the number one enemy of brick buildings particularly in the northern climates. It is recommended that buildings be inspected at scheduled intervals for issues with brick, mortar and flashing.
When inspecting your building, look for issues with the mortar like erosion and pop-out. Dusting (softening of the mortar) is also a signal that brick has been taking on excessive water and stressing out during freeze/thaw. When you dig into mortar with a hard probe, like a nail, it should be firm. You should not be able to carve into it at all.
Brick should be inspected to determine whether there are any spalled units. Brick spall is usually caused by excessive water absorption, and this is usually caused by failed flashing, mortar failure or even simply brick at the end of its service life. Brick usually fails from the top down. This is because of water exposure. The top course of a brick structure that’s exposed to weather absorbs water and then freezes. Brick windowsills and brick under leaky parapet caps are the number one location for brick deterioration.
