1950s brick veneer repair advice needed - pics included.

Submitted by WanderingMozzie t3_111558i in DIY

Howdy friends, I am a first time buyer of a 1950 brick veneer house and would like some advice on how to tackle these two repairs.

The first pic is cracks in the bricks above my backyard door. Building inspector reckons these were due to settlement. How do I go about repairing these? The gaps look quite large - do I simply repoint with mortar?

The second pic shows the horrible underflooring that has cracked to pieces underneath my laminate flooring in the laundry. How would you go about repairing this?

Also - are both these repairs urgent/need to be carried out immediately or can they wait?

Thanks

Photos here: https://imgur.com/a/JS3A1bL

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cbryancu t1_j8cvk7l wrote

Need to see more, but your underlayment looks like real tile. If it's mostly loose, you would have to remove it and decide what you want as a finish floor there.

The brick repair is grind out mortar and tuck point (replace) it. It's odd spot to crack, above lintel. Usually the cracked is at the edge of a lintel.

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fergablu2 t1_j8d15t0 wrote

We had to have some of the lintels on our brick house built in 1964 replaced because I was told the steel of the era wasn’t the best. I wouldn’t leave that because the weather can get in and rust the lintel more.

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WanderingMozzie OP t1_j8es6mj wrote

Thanks fergablu - just to clarify, am I correct in thinking that if I left the settled bricks & didn’t repoint, the lintel could rust?

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fergablu2 t1_j8g5gve wrote

I would guess that the lintel rusting and warping caused the bricks to shift.

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WanderingMozzie OP t1_j8g6scq wrote

Got it makes sense, would you recommend replacing the lintel & also the bricks around it?

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fergablu2 t1_j8g7i3k wrote

Find a masonry specialist to look at it.

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WanderingMozzie OP t1_j8es1li wrote

Thanks for that appreciate the response - as a newbie without much DIY experience when it come to repointing, would you recommend a DIY job after watching some YouTube videos on how it’s done etc, or would you hire a brick mason?

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cbryancu t1_j8gedpt wrote

Rent or buy a grinder and get a diamond blade. Use that to cut and dig out old mortar. This is a very handy item combo to own for lots of house repairs.

up new mortar and pushing it into the joint is not to difficult. Need to get the proper tools. It's a doable DIY. Cover everything under it and have water a rag and brush to wipe brick before mortar sets (the face of the brick will get some on it, and if left to dry it's a big pain to remove.)

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skydiver1958 t1_j8el7bu wrote

The brick is for sure settlement. Just chisel out and repoint.

The floor? Peel and stick on broken loose ceramic? Ya gotta wonder. You can leave for now if you don't mind walking on lumps but really it needs to be all taken out and LVP or ceramic tile put down. I would go with LVP.

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WanderingMozzie OP t1_j8esdje wrote

Thanks skydiver, would you recommend chiseling out & repointing myself?

Yeah it was definitely a bit of a shocker after feeling those lumps under the tiles - will definitely get replace with LVP I think. Thanks again

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skydiver1958 t1_j8ez41c wrote

Not real difficult. Hammer and cold chisel. Bag of mortar mix. Squeeze bag( like a cake decorators bag). Pointing trowel. The trick is to fill the gap flush without letting mortar spill onto the bricks. Let set for awhile then tool the joint to look like the others.

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