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I have a house that has brick across the front of the house. I am planning to lay rock in front of the brick to change the look to more “country”. There is ample room to do this, and the slab will more than handle the added weight. The porch, and house are all one slab. My question is how to attach brick ties to support my new rock work? Do I use some sort of anchors into the brick, or do I maybe remove a brick every so often, and tie to the framing lumber behind? Any suggestions?
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A new rock wall will require a concrete foundation to take the weight -- brick ties plugged and screwed to the existing wall will tie the rock back but will not support it.
You could use a thin (about 3/4" thick max.) rock veneer and apply it in the same way as tile.
*drill out mortar, insert masonry ties, tuck mortar (or epoxy) back in to secure the ties.single manufacturer's example:http://www.building.org/texis/db/bix/+dwwrmwtEeGtbxmwxeKRrw/profile.htmlbrian
*Thanks Brian, that sounds like just what I'm looking for.
*MikeHow will you treat the ends of the brick at openings and such. It wouldn't be that hard to remove the brick and I can't imagine a way to treat this detail.Terry
*If it is an older house, the original brick ties tieing the brick to the framing may be complete detiorated already, so you may want to tie directly into the framing if possible.
*What about using faux stone? It's a lot lighter than the real thing and you wouldn't have the stresses associated with the real thing. You could do ties into the mortar joints of your brick with relative ease while being assured they would hold the artificial stone fascade.
*Mike,In all honesty, Mike I can't see any reason for the use of "real" stone as opposed to synthetic stone.The synthetic is lighter, cheaper to install, easier to install and just as visually appealing. I agree with Ian about the use of a foundation for use under a "real" stone veneer. The treatment for synthetic stone at the openings can be done with corner pieces. If your heart is set on "real" stone, the brick ties can be "shot" in with a powder-actuated tool, such as one by Hilti, etc.If you decide to use synthetic stone, and that is what I would indeed suggest, there are a myriad of styles, shapes and colors in which to choose.Check with your local building products supplier or a masonry products supplier for details.Good luck on your decision.
*You have all brought to light more challenges than I had thought of. I would like to use real stone due to the abundance of material on the land that I have. No cost. I had not thought about the openings, which are quite a few. I'm now leaning toward tearing down the brick, since it it just on one wall. Time is no object as long as it is what we want in the end. Thanks to all who responded.
*MikeI'm glad to see you do it this way, you'll be glad you did. Returns on even the fake stone will not work well with openings. The brick should come off fairly easily, and field stone looks great.Good luckTerry