Home First Floor Brick over 2x4

[csouther]

Hi all,

I'm new here, but am hoping you can help me clarify something. I have a two-story home with a full finished basement. The front of my house is brick, as is the perimeter of my house in what would be considered the Basement Level. The perimeter brick extends up approximately 10 feet and then the rest is siding.

I've noticed on the backside that where the brick stops near the ground, some of the concrete (applied like a stucco) has flaked away to reveal that the brick walls appear to be sitting on a 2x4 frame, which I assume is then bolted to the foundation somehow.

-------------------------------------- | | | | | Brick Level

-------------------------------------- ______________________ ______________________ 2x4 covered in concrete stucco. ______________________ ______________________ Slab

I'm not a brickmason, so I'm wondering if this is normal? Also, the

2x4 doesn't appear to be treated (dear God I hope it IS), so if I ever had problems with it, how would I go about repairing it?

Thanks in advance.

-Chris

[RicodJour]

Not normal. Masonry should never be supported by wood framing - too many things can go wrong. Investigate some more. Take some pictures and post them online and post a link back here so we can see what's going on.

R

[csouther]

I did some more lookin' and what they've done is built the wall as such:

brick wall |||||| |||||| ||| |||||| ||| |||||| ||| Slab 2x4 standing on it's edge

So, the brick wall is half resting on the slab, and half resting on the 2x4. Not the ideal situation, but better than my original thought. At least this way if/when the 2x4 goes, I can probalby rip it out and install a new one.

Thanks for the help though!

-Chris

[tmurf.1]

What they most likely did was fasten a two by four to the slab because the brick was hanging over the edge too far. Maybe the framing was put up to close to the edge and they failed to leave enough room for the sheathing, a little finger room behind the brick and then the brick. If most of the brick is on the slab you should be ok as soon as the mortar sets up. If less than half of the brick is on concrete you might want to remove the 2x4 and replace it with a steel angle iron lag bolted into the concrete just below the brick, then point the gap between the steel and brick with some good cement rich mortar. 2parts sand, 1 part cement, just a little lime for workability

[csouther]

Excellent! This work is on my house which is approximately 18 years old. I'm toying with the idea of preventative maint. on the areas I can see, but will probably just end up waiting and seeing what happens with time.

Thanks for the advice.

-Chris