Q–I own a brick house that is over 50 years old and some of the bricks seem to be peeling or shedding at the surface. This is especially true of the bricks under several windows.
These windows have concrete sills on the outside and I notice that some of the concrete sills have small cracks in them. Could these cracks have something to do with the bricks under and near them peeling off in thin layers?
A–The condition you are speaking of is called spalling and one of the main causes for this problem is moisture entering or penetrating the bricks.
During freezing weather this moisture freezes and expands, causing pieces of the brick facing to flake off.
The cracks in the concrete sills could be allowing water to soak into and penetrate the bricks and the mortar joints between the bricks.
The first step should be to patch these cracks with a suitable patching cement.
In addition, I would advise inspecting all the mortar joints carefully.
Remove mortar that is cracked or crumbling and refill those joints with fresh mortar.
Q–Our house is 24 years old and has a bay window in the living room that sticks out about 2 feet from the front of the house.
The wood along the bottom of this bay window’s frame has several rotted spots where the wood is spongy and soft. Short of hiring a carpenter for a major renovation, is there any way I can repair this myself?
A–If the rotted area is not too extensive and no serious structural members are involved, then the rotted wood can be cut out. It can then be “rebuilt” or rejuvenated by packing the area with one of the two-part epoxy patching compounds that are sold for this purpose in marine supply stores, as well as in hardware stores and home centers.
After scraping out the rotted wood, these compounds are either injected into the wood by drilling a series of holes, or they are spread on and packed into the crevices with a putty knife.
They penetrate, solidify and harden the wood fibers.
Q–Our detached garage is finished with painted hardboard siding that we were told would stand up to continuous exposure. However, on one side of the garage this siding is now peeling and rotting. What should we do about this?
A–If the paint is peeling it is probably exposing the hardboard to the weather, causing it to soften and break down. The peeling and flaking paint should be scraped off down to the bare wood, then the surface primed and repainted with at least two coats of paint.
If some of the hardboard siding is spongy or soft, then those sections should be cut out and replaced or patched.
Bear in mind that after you paint, the paint should be renewed regularly–before it starts to weather.
Q–The cement blocks in our foundation seem to be breaking down and seeping sand. Paint will not stick to these blocks any more–it just peels off after a short while. What kind of coating can we apply to prevent the blocks from falling apart completely?
A–Sounds as though you need more than a simple coating–you probably need to have a coat of cement stucco, or thin mortar, applied to cover the blocks completely.
This usually requires the services of a professional mason contractor since the stucco or mortar will have to be troweled on after first applying a coat of special latex masonry adhesive.
It’s also possible that if the blocks are really in bad shape, a new wall of blocks may have to be put up in front of the existing wall.
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Have a question about home repair problems? Write to Bernard Gladstone in care of Your Place, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. Questions of general interest will be answered in future columns. Sorry, letters cannot be answered personally.
