We’re working on our latest project, an 1890’s behemoth of a house north of Chicago. It’s a brick Italianate that has never been insulated.
We made some surgical cuts in the plaster in the library get at some electrical work and I expected to see plaster > intact plaster keys > air pocket > brick. (Sadly, the brick has been painted on the exterior.) But there is definitely some hardwood sheathing before the brick. It looks tongue and groove maybe? I’ve never worked on a brick old house, just stucco or siding, so I’m so curious about the construction. What construction technique is this? The depth of the stud is less than 4 inches. I’m trying to figure out if there is another air pocket on the other side of the sheathing before the brick exterior, or if there is tarpaper between the sheathing and brick, or something else.
Anyone familiar with this construction technique?
(Photos are of the inside of the wall behind the plaster and the exterior brick)
Replies
It could have been the original siding but is probably just sheathing. You could find out what's on the other side with a drill.
Study the brickwork, especially at the bottom and around openings. Was the house originally built to have brick exterior, or was the brick added after the house was "complete"?
Brick veneer. Studded frame, sheathing (boards), airspace/brick ties and brick.
It was built to have a brick exterior. We're lucky in that all of the information about the architect and the building was available through the local historical society. Fascinating that there is plaster > air space > sheathing > air space > brick. This is a new one for me. But then again, I have never lived in such an old house (we keep buying older ones instead of newer ones), nor one that has such a grand pedigree. Thanks to all. One mystery solved. Ninety-nine more to go.