I am want to finish off a room in my basement to make it look like a cellar. It is not a very big area and since I’m going for that old and uneven look I am figuring I can lay the brick myself. I’ve got a few questions that I hope you can help on.
1. The wall I want to cover is framed wood with OSB on it. What prep should I do for an interior wall that will never get wet? Should I still put tar paper or tyvek or somethign else on it? Or leave it bare wood?
2. What’s the best way to tie the brick to the wall so it stays solid?
3. I want to run baseboard at the bottom of the brick and am thinking about creating a ledge of 3 pressure treated 2×6’s on edge for the wall sit on. These 2×6’s would rest on a concrete slab and would sure make it easier to trim – but is this a bad idea for some reason?
Thanks a lot for your help,
Rob
Replies
Whatever you do, I'm not going down there to taste any wine!
happy?
I hope my masonry skills aren't that bad ;-)Or maybe you prefer whiskey???
Hey Rob:
I think you might want to re-think this a bit. My recollection is that a single wythe (layer) of brick goes at about 80 psf (pounds per square foot) -- could be more but for some reason that's what I remember. Assuming an 8' tall wall 10' long, it would weigh over three tons. Probably not a good idea to lay that on some lumber (or anything other than a true masonry footing).
If three tons of wall fall on you, it would hurt,
bad.
If three tons of wall crack your basement slab, you'd be unhappy.
To put in a proper footing and not have it look like a wide, thick concrete block on top of your slab, you would need to dig, very close to the existing footings for your house. Another tricky proposition.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you might want to either get someone on site who knows what they're doing, or take a different approach in your basement.
"A job well done is its own reward. Now would you prefer to make the final payment by cash, check or Master Card?"
Strip the wood from the foundation wall, the footing extends app 4 " out from the wall under the slab. If you place the brick close enough to the wall the it will be supported by the footing. The mortar bed for the brick should be on the slab. Shoot or screw brick tabs to the wall as required by code. Run electrical, and put outlets are required. If you still want baseboard put wood scraps in vertical joints when mortaring then nail base into these later on.
>>"the footing extends app 4 " out from the wall under the slab. If you place the brick close enough to the wall the it will be supported by the footing."
Uh, that's a good idea and don't mean to be contrary or anything, but actually to do that you'd need to extend the existing footing another 4" inward under the brick and somehow tie it in to the existing footing. Plus, the edge of the existing footing (whatever is actually down there) probably wasn't made to act as a brick ledge and hold up a brick wall.
"A job well done is its own reward. Now would you prefer to make the final payment by cash, check or Master Card?"
Edited 3/14/2006 9:45 am ET by philarenewal
I'm surprised noone has mentioned it yet, but.....
I would tear out the wooden wall, and then use the metal L channel (basically it's angle iron) that is bolted on a house for the brick veneer when there is no brickledge in the foundation wall. this is mounted onto the stemwall.
I would simply mount that on the inside of the stem wall maybe with just enouch space to stick a 1x or 2x under it to nail your trim on. then brick up from there. you'll have to use some brick ties to tie the wall onto your stem wall.
This is a hard process and you could save yourself time and money by using that 1/2inch brick tile, but they look kinda fake
I'm not the guy doing it (you replied to me), but that is an excellent idea.
Now you have to explain to the OP what size steel and what connections will hold the brick wall. ;-)
"A job well done is its own reward. Now would you prefer to make the final payment by cash, check or Master Card?"
IIRC there is veneer brick, for situations like this. about 1/4" thick
don't have any more than that.
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter
I'm with phil on the weight of a brick wall. It will require a footing.
Have you looked into any of the faux brickfacing products?
Some of them are actually quite good. Especially for a single, flat wall. It's usually at the outside corners or around openings that show the tell tale signs of fake brick.
I did a projects several years back using the stuff that didn't look so great on its own. Tiled the wall with the "brick" tiles before applying a smooth coat of stucco to about 60% of various portions of the wall....allowing the bricks to "peek" through. Painted the whole thing with a whitewash. You could not tell it wasn't a solid masonry wall. HO loved it...so did I.....I'm still looking for somewhere in my own house to do it.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements