Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Lets talk brick Ledgers

I have seen some bad conditions regarding brick installation on single family homes and one of the worst is installing the mud sill directly on a concrete slab with the intention of installing the brick directly on the outer edge of the slab. This will direct water towards the sheathing. Very dangerous.

I suggest creating a low curb wall when developing the concrete plan so that the brick can sit on the ledge and concrete will move up the wall and provide a separation between the brick ledger and the wood frame elements. Otherwise really beef up your waterproofing at the ledger to sheathing juncture to ensure water is eliminated. I would use self adhered membrane but only if it was very well inspected. If you don't have extremely good inspection services then use hot applied rubber or a reinforced urethane traffic coating. You don't need the top coat in this unexposed condition.

Another acceptable option would be Wetsuit by Neptune coatings or BEI Wetflash. Use teh Wetsuit carefully and fully reinforce. It is not vapor permeable so it cannot be used on the whole wall, only at the juncture. The BEI Wetflash is vapor permeable and should not be used as a roofing membrane but will work in this condition due to it's unexposed nature. It also needs to be fully reinforced. When I get a chance I will post some details that illustrate these conditions and various options. Visit my website sikesdesign building envelope services

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