Crumbling bricks on a 1960s house

[steve.jones]

The front face of some of the bricks on my 1960 house are slowly crumbling. Is there anything transparent that can be painted on to put of the inevitable day that they have to be replaced Thanks

[The Natural Philosopher]

if it's frost spallation, then a coating of water repellent may help.

If it isn't, short of a thin coat of polyester resin to make a brick/plastic composite, I don't think so.

[Weatherlawyer]

Cement render and pebbledash. Waste more heat during anticyclonic spells in winter. Is water getting in between the bricks at the edge of the roof or through a crack?

Look for diagonal lines in the pointing going to windows and doors. If it isn't then spray some silicon sealer on after 3 or 4 very dry days. Then another coat next summer when they are really dry. Not that face brick is all that porous.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I would start by asking Why is it happening? It's not normal (well, not that quickly anyway).

It might be that the bricks just weren't suitable for outside use - too absorbant. It seems unlikely such a mistake was made during construction, but it's not competely impossible.

Is the area subject to excessive water for some reason, running down the wall, or splashing back up above a horizontal surface?

Has the pointing failed so excessive moisture can get in the wall. In such a scenario, during repointing, I have cut out some surface spalled bricks and turned them around the other way, providing the opposite face was matching. If the body of the brick has had it or it doesn't have a facing finish on both sides, then you need to find a replacement brick, either new, or nicked from somewhere less obvious (found several unused under the floor).

You need to be careful about applying waterproof coatings until you know what's causing the problem. There are some faults which could be made worse.

[NT]

Sometimes the tide can be turned by repointing with lime mortar. This evaporates water from the joints faster than cement pointing, making the bricks a bit drier.

Waterproof coatings make things worse by preventing nearly all evaporation. Wetter bricks spall more/

NT