I have twenty-five year old closed in wooden porch attached to a ninety year old brick house and lately have been getting some fine white power dropping from where the wooden ceiling meets the bricks.
House is in coastal Maine. A small bit of water stain on the ceiling trim but I have never seen water on the wall.
Since the heavy October rains a lot more white powder has appeared. A dusting before but a few tablespoons full now.
The brick inside the porch was sandblasted before the addition was built so the hard surface has been removed.
I figure I’m going to have to do exploratory surgery. So far I haven’t found the leak.
Does anyone have any ideas what the powder might be? Lime?
Thanks
oldfred
Edited 11/14/2005 7:58 pm ET by oldfred
Replies
When brick gets wet, sometimes the minerals leach out causing something called efflorescence (sp?). Not sure if that could be your issue or not...
Most likely efflorescence due to "salts" washing out of the brick. In turn due to moisture soaking into the brick elsewhere and coming out where you see the powder.
In some cases it's harmless, in other cases it can build crystals in the tiny cracks in the brick and cause them to spall. Depends on the content of the crystals and the composition of the brick.
happy?
Thanks, Dan
Not sure what to do about it . Have to find the leak first I guess. I don't look forward to opening either the roof or the ceiling.
PS: I'd like to know about the flashing at the top of where the porch roof meets the brick. This a place where mistakes and poor workmanship rule...
Matt, thanks for the quick replies.
The porch roof is hipped, but a gable where it meets the brick, about a 5/12 pitch with a continuos strip of lead cut into the brick about four inches above and parallel to the asphalt shingles. I haven't found a place that looks suspect for leaks but there must be one.
Step flashing might have been a better choice, but the particular roof pitch made the way the bricks lined up with the shingles a nightmare. Plus I remember trying to chisel out that old mortar as an exercise in futility.
The house is a two story with a slate roof and the snow and ice slide off and hit the porch roof with a vengeance. Good way to loosen stuff up.
I know what you mean about the brick pattern and the roof angle... At least it is let into the brick. That was really my Q.
You have brickmites.
Call the exterminator, quick !!
Strange, I have never heard of an infestation as far north as you are, before. Must be a particularly hardy sub-species. Better call TWO exterminators !!
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Luka,
I looked in the yellow pages for brick mite exterminators, but all I could find were clay crunchers and motar munchers. Think they might related?
It's probably that space you put in the name that is the problem.It's brickmites, not brick mites.;o)Mortar munchers are second-cousins to these things. Maybe what works for one, works for the other. Like I said, I've never seen an infestation as far north as you are. Maybe that's why they are not mentioned in the yellow pages.Just call the two most expensive exterminators in the area, and book them one after the other. You'll be ok.
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
I'll get on it right away.
"The brick inside the porch was sandblasted before the addition was built so the hard surface has been removed."
I'd like to know if the brick above the flashing was also sandblasted. Look carefully, it may have been but built up grime hides the fact. You say the porch is 25 yo. Was it built after or before the sandblasting? How are the mortar joints holding out?
As you pointed out, sandblasting removes the hard dense outer layer, the layer that sheds water. What's behind is soft and porous. Maybe that's how the water is getting in the wall, above the lead flashing. Efflorescence is a problem - a chemical breakdown. Spalling - a mechanical breakdown - is from freeze-thaw action during winter. Both combined will destroy the wall in time.
Some people paint their sandblasted bricks, but you'd have to be sure the bricks are bone dry first. Painting is not necessarily a good idea. Maybe there are some clear absorbing compounds that are more durable than paint.
When I had the same problems in the 80s, I was told to rebrick the house... I didn't and sold the place 10 years later at a good profit.
Good current advice would be found from someone who specializes in heritage restoration. Look for expertise in places like Virginia, New York, PA, Mass. National Park Service surely knows experts in the field.
http://www.costofwar.com/
Edited 11/15/2005 12:03 am ET by Pierre1
Pierre,
The brick above the flashing was not sandblasted. However the brick above the ceiling may have been. IIRC it was blasted after an old porch was removed.
The house is in a development that was put up in a hurry. A lot of signs of "git 'er done" work, poor pointing of the bricks being one.
I'll see what I can find with a google of Heritage Restoration.
Thanks for the reply
oldfred