Wrong brick being replaced on brand-new home...

[jeff80]

Hello,

We bought a brand new home which is being built as I write. The front of our house is about 1/2 brick and the rest is siding.

Long story short -- they put the completely wrong color brick on the front, which I noticed after I swung by a few days later (the job was already done). Now they are going to tear down the brick and put the correct one up.

My question is this -- how do I make sure that they tear it down carefully, prep the surface correctly again and put the new brick up correctly? I don't know what to look for or what to ask the job foreman about in order to make sure we don't have any brick detaching or water damage in the future. Do they have to rip off the old flashing? Will there be possible damage to the house wrap (the house is wrapped all around). Can they accidentally punch holes through the plywood? I don't even know what else could go wrong or what to watch out for.

Thanks for any replies!!!

[Mike Holmes]

[jeff80]

What do you mean by color choices? Altering the color of the brick?

[mm]

I think he means, Alter what color you choose so that you choose what they already gave you. Might that be what he meant?

[HammerBammer]

Do you always complain when someone gives you a free gift. You got the front of the house bricked for free. I dont think any type or color of brick could look all that bad. If you talk it over with them, they will likely give you the present brick job for free, just to not have to replace it. After all, it will cost them the loss of all these bricks and the labor, PLUS the labor to remove them and then the cost for the new bricks and labor. Tell them you'll accept what is there now as long as you are not charged.

On the other hand, you might be a perfectionist and unless you get the exact stuff you ordered, you will have a massive coronary or a stroke. In that case have them tear the whole house down and start over. Yes, there will be damage from removing the bricks, particularly the house wrap.

Next time hire some professional builders that know how to read blueprints. It sounds like you got some backwoods redneck cooters doing the job for you.

[3G]

| >

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| > > the vapor wrap will be destroyed, rendered useless by debricking. | > > consider altering your color choices as long as the brick is of a type | > > and quality consistent with your alternate lifestyle. | >

| > > On Mar 25, 10:01 pm, [e-mail] wrote: | >

| > > > Hello, | >

| > > > We bought a brand new home which is being built as I write. The front | > > > of our house is about 1/2 brick and the rest is siding. | >

| > > > Long story short -- they put the completely wrong color brick on the | > > > front, which I noticed after I swung by a few days later (the job was | > > > already done). Now they are going to tear down the brick and put the | > > > correct one up. | >

| > > > My question is this -- how do I make sure that they tear it down | > > > carefully, prep the surface correctly again and put the new brick up | > > > correctly? I don't know what to look for or what to ask the job | > > > foreman about in order to make sure we don't have any brick detaching | > > > or water damage in the future. Do they have to rip off the old | > > > flashing? Will there be possible damage to the house wrap (the house | > > > is wrapped all around). Can they accidentally punch holes through the | > > > plywood? I don't even know what else could go wrong or what to watch | > > > out for. | >

| > > > Thanks for any replies!!!- Hide quoted text - | >

| > > - Show quoted text - | >

| > What do you mean by color choices? Altering the color of >the brick?- | | Do you always complain when someone gives you a free gift. You got | the front of the house bricked for free. I dont think any type or | color of brick could look all that bad.

• stop thinking...............it can look that bad

If you talk it over with | them, they will likely give you the present brick job for free, just | to not have to replace it.

*are you kiddin me................free

After all, it will cost them the loss of | all these bricks and the labor, PLUS the labor to remove them and then | the cost for the new bricks and labor.

*bricks can be re-sold and re-used no loss except contractors labor.

Tell them you'll accept what | is there now as long as you are not charged.

*where the heck were you raised? in the wilderness

| | On the other hand, you might be a perfectionist and unless you get the | exact stuff you ordered,

*and why shouldn't the OP get what they ordered?

you will have a massive coronary or a | stroke. In that case have them tear the whole house down and start | over. Yes, there will be damage from removing the bricks, | particularly the house wrap.

*and why would the housewrap be damaged? from removing brick ties? there is an air space between the wall and bricks.

| | Next time hire some professional builders that know how to read | blueprints. It sounds like you got some backwoods redneck cooters | doing the job for you.

*not many builders do masonry work hire a competant mason. not to say that the OP's contractor isn't competant it could have been a common mistake in color order. one digit in a number code can change the order color. |

[bigjim]

[Joseph Meehan]

3G wrote: ...

Most contractors are not going to want to work with used brick and of course they would be an odd number and might not match if you needed more etc. The value of the used brick is not going to be equal to new and may end up costing someone to just dump them, which is most likely.

Makes sense to me. That is the owner is not charged for the original job. The contractor is going to end up eating more than the cost of the original job if he has to replace it.

Because he now has a choice of getting what he ordered or saving some real money.

...

[deke]

Just go ahead and sue them. You will get tens of thousands of dollars and new brick.

[mm]

A real possibility. I didn't mention saving money in my prior post in order to keep the post short.

In addition to what Joe said, how long would he have to wait until someone wants the color he's saving. 2 years? 10 years? 20 years?

The best he could do is sell them at 20% the original price, if he could get that. Or use it for some project at his own house.

In the wilderness, or the frontier, people bartered all the time. It's some new phenomenon to think one has to stick to the contract and can't make a compromsie deal in the middle of it, in a case like this.

Joe put it best.

They should and they still can, but now they have a choice.

I think these are your words, and I agree with you here.

**I once rebuilt a large brick planter using the same bricks. I didn't know how to get the mortar off without breaking some bricks (and that meant having non-matching bricks, or buying all new. And my mother was a tenant renting the place.) So I ended up putting parts of it together with a thin layer of mortar, like glue. It didn't look perfect but it looked good and she used it for 3 or 4 more years until she moved. When I was nearby, I went back 15 years later to see how long it had lasted. Sadly for me, the new tenant wasn't home and I couldn't tell if it was the work I had done or had been totally redone (or when). It's 90 minutes from here, the neighbors werent home either, I couldn't get their name, and the reverse directory didn't work. If my patch job lasted 19 years, I'd be quite amazed, but I'm usually an optimist, so I think it possible.

I guess I only had to rebuild about a third of it. I didn't even take the dirt out of the planter, except for a couple inches sideways.

[David Martel]

mm,

I may have misinterpreted the poster but I thought he was indicating that they used 2 different colors on his house. The front color, style, texture is not the same as the sides.

Dave M.

[Art]

technical reports at

Read how brick is supposed to be installed. Notice flashing around doors and windows and the metal connections to the studs. Yours probably will not be done that way. That is why I will never again buy a brick veneer home.

[Steve B]

Let me get this right. You don't know a thing, but want to go supervise so they do it right?

Stay away from the jobsite and let them do their work. When you come back, if it's not the right color, make them do it again.

Steve

[Goedjn]

This is a good idea, but you should at least ask how much money they're willing to give back if you don't make them fix it.

[mm]

Oh, yeah, maybe so. When I first read "front" I just thought he only had brick on the front. I've seen that. Two colors of brick would probably be worse than one wrong color.

No. I think I read it right the first time, "The front of our house is about 1/2 brick and the rest is siding."

Maybe he'll post back. It's only been 13 hours.

[Oren]

Nobody mentions a warranty. I bought a home from a builder in '95. I got a drive by view. There was a problem later and the builder was right there to fix it. A tree next door contributed damage to a water main leak for the neighbor, again the builder was right there.

When I help they seem to charge more. :{ )

-- Oren

"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."

[jeff80]

Um, i didn't get the front of the house bricked for free -- I PAID FOR IT

[jeff80]

Thanks Steve, that is very useful. I hope they built your house that way as well. That is WHY I am asking in this forum, so I can get information on what to look for and make sure they don't cut any corners or overlook a critical step that can lead to problems in the future.

Please, if you don't have anything constructive to say, then DON'T SAY IT.

[jeff80]

You are right MM, the whole house is HardiPlank except 1/2 of the front, which is brick.

[Malcolm Hoar]

But you might be able to. The contractor will quite likely eat the cost of the wall he's already built versus the alternative which will apparently involve demolishing the wall he just built, making good, and rebuilding a new wall with new bricks.