Good Building Design with Brick or Concrete Masonry creates movable joints where expansion and contraction forces have the best chance of being controlled by allowing the movable joint to absorb building material movement. An interesting note- kiln fired brick goes through irreversible moisture expansion while hydrated concrete products shrink as they age. Image courtesy of the Brick Institute of America.
But each homeowner lives with the design built in when their home was built.
So each of us lives with the design built in and the individual characteristics of our homes’ brick and mortar to move and crack.
Brick Doctor is in the brick and stone masonry repair business. We work to create stable and long lasting repairs while creating as much value as we can for your money.
We fix what needs to be fixed, and we add a variety of movable joints as necessary for long term brick and mortar stability. Our Brick Doctor team does not go overboard with extra repairs and expansion joints as per an optimized design; but, instead works to stay practical and cost effective to fix what needs fixing for long term stability.
As an example, irreversible moisture expansion of bricks is most rapid when bricks are new and slows down, even stabilized after a number of years. The age of your home helps dictate to the smart and conscientious mason what masonry issues needs repair and what brick and mortar elements need a movable joint.
Suggested placement of movable joints
Each of these types of brick design are shown in the image at the top of the page, and described in much more detail on our page describing brick and mortar movement due to natural forces.
Accommodate brickwork movement by placing expansion or control joints, as needed
- For brickwork without openings, space no more than 25 feet apart
- For brickwork with multiple openings, consider symmetrical placement of expansion joints and reduced spacing of no more than 20 feet apart.
- at offsets and setbacks
- at wall intersections
- at changes in wall height
- where wall backing system changes
- where support of brick veneer changes
- where wall function or climatic exposure changes
- at or near corners
- placing expansion joints around elements that are rigidly attached to the frame and project into the veneer, such as windows and door frames
And remember, the brick repair company you choose should have the experience and right attitude to discern from your home’s design and how your home is presenting a brick and mortar cracking problem- to add the right number of moveable joints to solve your problems reliably without abusing your budget.
