Replies

1. 
   FastEddie1 | Jun 20, 2005 07:37pm | #1

   What are you protecting thre brick from?

    

   I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.

1. 
   EdJW | Jun 20, 2005 10:38pm | #2

   Ed, I've always heard that it's not good to bury brick due to moisture and water seeping through.  Also, seeping through the mortar joints.  -Ed

1. 
   FastEddie1 | Jun 21, 2005 12:27am | #3

   Ok, but if it's a landscape retaining wall, not part of the house, why do you care if water seeps through?  Actusally, don't you want water to seep through so it doesn't buoild up hydraulic pressure behind the wall?

    I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.

2. 
   Piffin | Jun 21, 2005 01:22am | #4

   Are these brick part of the house or just the mass of the retaining wall?

    

    

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1. 
   EdJW | Jun 21, 2005 03:36am | #5

   Sorry guys, I should have said that the brick he wants to protect are on the house.  The retaining wall will be away from the house and filled with dirt, but the brick on the house is already fairly close to the ground.  -Ed

1. 
   Piffin | Jun 21, 2005 03:50am | #6

   The problem then is not that dirt or water will hurt the brick. It is that brick veneer walls have to be built with weep holes so water that is driven into the wall by wind bown rain can drain out and away. Pack dirt over then so they can't drain, and the house will rot and mold.One solution would be to dreate a sor of french drain where he would have a trench next to the house filled with washed stone to give that water some way to drain away and perc into the soil 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

2. 
   FastEddie1 | Jun 21, 2005 04:37am | #7

   Why wasn't there a brick ledge cast into the foundation above the anticipated soil line?  Sounds like somebody didn't plan very well.

    I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.

3. 
   piko | Jun 21, 2005 08:43am | #8

   You say 'on' the house - so I guess this is a veneer rather than a plinth. Me, I'd build another retaining wall first up close to (n.l.t. 1") the brick first, and paint damp-proofing aspahalt onto that. Cover that gap with a capping course. make sure there are weep-holes in the front of the outer ret'g wall, eh.

   Q: what's this for - a planter or a pathway? if you've any siding within 8" of the former or 2" of the latter, you'll be asking other questions, or at least washing mud and muck off said siding.cheers

   ***I'm a contractor - but I'm trying to go straight!***