ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Home Structure Tips

Updated on July 4, 2022

Damaged Bricks

Bulging Bricks
Bulging Bricks | Source

Structual Problems

We all hope that the masonry in our home will never need repair. But eventually, it does. Even brick will succumb to aging, and once they show their age, they need help.

Your ability to spot structural damage is important to the overall well-being of your home. Although cracking and bulging are far less common than slight deterioration of mortar joints, such major problems sometimes do appear in an older building

To assess the condition of brick walls, look along the wall to see if any sections are bulging outward. The most common locations are at the bottom of the wall and halfway up, near windows. Bulges in the structural brick walls usually result from failed mortar joints. In a veneer wall ( which is a wood structural wall linked at intervals with metal ties to a covering layer of bricks), bulges can usually be traced to ties that have come loose either from the wood or the bricks.

Although bulges rarely threaten the integrity of the building, the trouble is usually confined to the immediate area, which will need to be addressed in time. The job of eliminating bulges is best left to the professional.

Cracking may be caused by the settling of the soil below the wall. The building may have been constructed on land that was not compacted enough to accommodate the structure. Or the soil may have shifted due to groundwater or other causes and carried one part of the wall with it. Other causes of cracks are rotted ledger(horizontal beam) over the window, cycles of freezing and thawing, and impacts such as from a car. Masonry walls will tolerate a fair amount of movement without posing the danger of collapse or of sections falling out. It takes a lot of movement to cause collapse, but if you are concerned with such issues, call a masonry contractor or engineer for an inspection.

It's important to learn whether a crack has opened to it extreme, indicating that the source of the problem has stopped, or is still opening more, or going through a cycle of opening and closing. Test to see if the crack is stable by filling it with plaster. If there is any movement, the crack will reappear in the brittle plaster. Watch for several months, and check every few weeks; the crack may open and close.

If the crack continues to open, even a small fraction of an inch over several months. the structural problem must be resolved before the wall suffers increased damage. Consult a professional.

If you are sure that the crack is neither growing nor oscillating, fill it with grout, a thin mixture of non-shrinking mortar. Clean all loose mortar out of the crack. Use a small, specialized masonry chisel to undercut the surface of the crack so that the interior portion is wider than the portion of the surface, the grout will adhere better that way.

Next, wet the crack. Brace a 3-ft long board against the lower part of the crack and use a funnel to pour in the grout. Work up the crack with additional boards, if necessary. Remove the board once the grout has set, then scrape away any excess mortar then re-point the length of the crack.

Cracks around windows and doors may not be caused by soil settling but by shrinking and expanding of the wooden framing of the door or window due to the changes in moisture content. This shrinking and expansion may still be going on, so using mortar in these areas may be a losing proposition. A better bet is to fill the cracks with a silicone caulk, which will flex with movements of the framing, eliminating the crack.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)