do I have a brick problem or window problem?
 

My house is 3 years old and I'm getting 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch gaps
between almost all of my door and window brick moldings and the brick.
They were all originally tight with the brick and caulked. On most,
the gaps are across the top between the molding and lintels. I have MW
windows with composite molding. The gaps across the top are uniform
which makes it look like the window dropped but a few windows also
have gaps opening along one side of the window. What could cause this?
There does not appear to be any cracks in the brick and no cracks
inside the house.

do I have a brick problem or window problem?
 

"malv" wrote in message
oups.com...
My house is 3 years old and I'm getting 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch gaps
between almost all of my door and window brick moldings and the brick.
They were all originally tight with the brick and caulked. On most,
the gaps are across the top between the molding and lintels. I have MW
windows with composite molding. The gaps across the top are uniform
which makes it look like the window dropped but a few windows also
have gaps opening along one side of the window. What could cause this?
There does not appear to be any cracks in the brick and no cracks
inside the house.

I had a similar problem and never did figure it out for sure. The house was
about 15 years old and I noticed gaps between the brick and windows. I
assumed that the brick veneer was moving away from the wall. I bought vinyl
trim and glued it in place to close the gap (it was too large for caulk).
That worked but it always bothered me that it happened in the first place.
I wondered if the contractor cheated on those metal straps that anchor the
brick courses to the wall.

do I have a brick problem or window problem?
 

You are probably right that the brick is not properly anchored to the wall
studs and the wall is moving and could eventually fail. Another sign is
stretched caulking around doors and windows.

Retrofit brick wall anchors:

http://www.dur-o-wal.com/prod/repairrest.html


They are a PIA to install but that is what we used. Kind of like expanding
molly bolts that screw into the studs and then expand in the masonry wall
and then you fill the hole with mortar. Bang your brick walls and you will
probably feel them vibrate. This is a permanent fixed. They were invented
because eventually the cheap anchors masons use will corrode and fail but
they can also be used when the anchors are missing or not into studs which
is almost always true.



"Charles Schuler" wrote in message
. ..

"malv" wrote in message
oups.com...
My house is 3 years old and I'm getting 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch gaps
between almost all of my door and window brick moldings and the brick.
They were all originally tight with the brick and caulked. On most,
the gaps are across the top between the molding and lintels. I have MW
windows with composite molding. The gaps across the top are uniform
which makes it look like the window dropped but a few windows also
have gaps opening along one side of the window. What could cause this?
There does not appear to be any cracks in the brick and no cracks
inside the house.

I had a similar problem and never did figure it out for sure. The house
was about 15 years old and I noticed gaps between the brick and windows.
I assumed that the brick veneer was moving away from the wall. I bought
vinyl trim and glued it in place to close the gap (it was too large for
caulk). That worked but it always bothered me that it happened in the
first place. I wondered if the contractor cheated on those metal straps
that anchor the brick courses to the wall.

do I have a brick problem or window problem?
 

On Apr 3, 9:51 pm, "Art" wrote:
You are probably right that the brick is not properly anchored to the wall
studs and the wall is moving and could eventually fail. Another sign is
stretched caulking around doors and windows.

Retrofit brick wall anchors:

http://www.dur-o-wal.com/prod/repairrest.html

They are a PIA to install but that is what we used. Kind of like expanding
molly bolts that screw into the studs and then expand in the masonry wall
and then you fill the hole with mortar. Bang your brick walls and you will
probably feel them vibrate. This is a permanent fixed. They were invented
because eventually the cheap anchors masons use will corrode and fail but
they can also be used when the anchors are missing or not into studs which
is almost always true.

"Charles Schuler" wrote in message

. ..





"malv" wrote in message
roups.com...
My house is 3 years old and I'm getting 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch gaps
between almost all of my door and window brick moldings and the brick.
They were all originally tight with the brick and caulked. On most,
the gaps are across the top between the molding and lintels. I have MW
windows with composite molding. The gaps across the top are uniform
which makes it look like the window dropped but a few windows also
have gaps opening along one side of the window. What could cause this?
There does not appear to be any cracks in the brick and no cracks
inside the house.

I had a similar problem and never did figure it out for sure. The house
was about 15 years old and I noticed gaps between the brick and windows.
I assumed that the brick veneer was moving away from the wall. I bought
vinyl trim and glued it in place to close the gap (it was too large for
caulk). That worked but it always bothered me that it happened in the
first place. I wondered if the contractor cheated on those metal straps
that anchor the brick courses to the wall.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'm thinking that too but still have to wonder why it's doing it only
at the tops of the windows on all three levels and all four sides of
the house. I would think that bad brick tie-in would be more of a
local problem and not all around the house. Thanks for the reply and
info on the anchors.