Greeting comrades, “only fools rush in, where other fear to tread…”.
Looking for some suggestions on my homes brick foundation wall above grade. Bit of background first.
Located in Toronto, ON Canada, this 2 storey was built in 1900 with a brick foundation and footing. (3 course footing). Soil is clay. Basement is about 4′-6″ below grade, 6ft ceiling. No underpinning or benching done or planned for future.
We purchased house in 2006, renovated inside including plumbing, heating, electricals. Foundation is stable, no drywall cracks or window or door problems.
Need to parge the foundation wall on the driveway. Is in rough shape. Mortar is very soft will need some replacing. Some bricks might need to be replacement. The difference between brick faces is 1 – 1.5 inches in some case, see attached photos.
The tricky part is the exposed rim joist above the brick foundation wall…
With no other suggestions this would be my approach.
1. Replace the worst bricks.
2. Remove and replace 1-2″ deep of soft mortar with soft mortar with lower PSI than bricks probably Type K or L.
3. Parge in many thin coats, follow man. instructions. Install steel mesh to hold mortar in place.
4. Weather proof and cover rim joist with metal flashing, finish by chalking all seams to keep bugs and moisture out..
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
PS: Please don’t laugh too hard at my hose bib, you’ll also notice there is a window that was infilled long before we bought the house.
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Parge 117 year... supporting photos
These pictures support the above post.
That really doesn't look that bad. I think I'd do pretty much exactly what you outlined except I've fasten cement board to the bricks with SS tapcons and parge over that. Trying to get a smooth finish on lath is going to be tough and consume lots of stucco mix. My stucco guy wants me to use cement board as the base for all the stucco he does now and he's been doing it for 60 years.