Problem: brick porch over a lower room of house. Leaks from around porch getting into living space below, causing mold & mildew.
I'm planning on caulking around the edge, where there's a large crack. But I'd also like to seal the brick & mortar surface. Anyone know of a good sealant for this? I'd like to avoid making the surface slick and slippery. I also realize that there's no way to keep water out completely; I just want to minimize it.
The only real way of fixing this is to put a layer of flashing under the brick and have weep holes to drain off the water.
As Art says, the brick and brick joints are not the problem. First, brick cannot be easily sealed. See BIA web site. I work with a contractor who works with this kind of problem - residential building failures. The failure is typically the water proofing and flashing. The remedy is to take up the deck and rework / replace drainage, membranes, and flashing. TB
how long has the patio been there without leaking?
if its a long time and probably is given the crack caulk cracks well and seal brick with thompsons water seal. use liberally dump on and broom around let absorb and dry over a couple days if needed.
the brick will darken some but water will bead up on it after that. reapply every couple years it will take much less for reapplications. it will not change the surface at all, no slippery issues. it seals the surface but doesnt fill voids..........
thompsons use the oil based one, not the new water based milky colored one, reports here indicate its not as good........
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