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Sealing bricks?
I am a contractor and I have a customer with a sunroom that protrudes from her house. It is brick construction. It has several double hung windows on three sides and the last few years whenever it rains a substantial amount rusty water leaks in above every window and runs down the blinds and then onto the floor. There are no leaks in the roof and the ceiling is always dry. Yesterday as an experiment I sprayed water with a garden hose on the brick wall above one window and just as I suspected about ten minutes later water was pouring in from above that window. The bricks have a rough porous surface. A few years ago she had these walls tucked and when $11,000 later as the mason was rinsing off the walls when he was finished there were some small leaks then. There are no cracks in the mortar or bricks. The house is about 90 years old and is in very good condition except for this problem. The homeowner maintains the house well. The paneling and woodwork in this room are going to have to be replaced but I obviously need to get this problem fixed first. Will sealing the bricks help? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
On a totally unrelated story I am thinking about purchasing a century home that has been neglected for about thirty years. When it was built it was a fine home and a showpiece in the community. One of the biggest problems is that dogs and cats and their mess are in every room. Is there any way to get rid of the smell from the hard wood floors and are there any grants to help pay to restore a fine old home to its original glory?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lair Tienter on -
It sounds like you have cracks in the mortor that are allowing water to seep in. I doubt the bricks will let water in like that. It has to be a crack between the brick and the mortor.
As for the smell in your home I have used lime or charcoal to remove smells in homes I've worked on. I'm not sure lime would be good on wood floors but mabe you could do a test spot. As far as grants I have not heard of any but it is free to check to see what is available in your area. Good luck...Lair
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Permalink Reply by Phil on -
I wonder if it is not only the mortar, as Lair suggests, but the mortar between the brick and the wooden brick moulding at the top of the window. In fact, sunrooms are often additions, and most old house additions, even if 75 years old, are not as well planned and engineered as the original house. So the the flashing and window watershed may well have been done differently there than the rest of the house. Masons are high on that brick sealer, but I think water soaking through bricks is rarely an actual issue.
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Permalink Reply by KYLE HEYMAN on -
Thanks for the answers. There are no visible cracks in the mortar. A mason has recently tucked all these walls[within the last 5 years]. A year and a half ago I caulked any visible cracks and in did not help the problem at all. I believe that the sun room was built at the same time as the rest of the house as it has the same bricks which were imported from France. The homeowner knows the history of the house well. The brick walls are very thick, maybe two layers and the bricks overhang the lintels on the outside at least 4 inches. The water is not coming in the windows at all but is coming in the wall and then running over the lintels explaining the rusty colored water. There are nine windows on the three sides of this room and rain leaks in above all of them. The problem is worse when there is wind that causes the rain to come down at an angle.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Hendrickson on -
I agree with what has been said. Though the brick may have been repointed, if they did not do them all above the windows, leaks can still happen. I cannot imagine the bricks being porious enough to allow water to flow without just falling apart. Sealing can also prevent moisture from escaping causing problems on the inside.
I would try to isolate the leaks by concentrating on small sections at a time until you find the culprit.
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Permalink Reply by KenK on -
Our stone mason repointed the chimney and sealed the bricks with some Thomsons water seal. He said that it was a good idea to use water seal on the bricks. That said - the repointing of the entire chimney, flashing was probably the key to stopping the water which used to drip down the chimney into the house.
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