Slide 7 of 15
Notes:
- About veneer
- Many houses have a layer of brick or stone veneer attached to the outside face of the exterior walls
- In older houses brick veneer may only be attached to the wall with a layer of mortar between the brick and the building paper.
- In new houses veneer is attached to the framing with wire ties embedded in the mortar joint.
- Wire ties may not be able to restrain bricks from falling out because the ties are:
- Too widely spaced and the force on the ties could exceed the strength of the tie to restrain bricks.
- Corroded or deteriorated.
- Attached to the wall with nails that are too small or short.
- Pulling out of deteriorated mortar joints which have little strength for resisting earthquake forces.
- Veneer must be securely attached to the house framing to prevent bricks from dislodging during an earthquake
- The figure shows an earthquake-damaged building with fallen brick veneer.
- What can you do to limit the hazards associated with brick or stone veneer?
- Add new anchors for the veneer
- Space the bracing regularly in both horizontal and vertical directions.
- Restraints only prevent collapse of the entire section of the veneer and does not guarantee that all of the veneer will remain intact during the earthquake.
- Remove the veneer
- This is the most effective method.
- After removal, add an exterior wall covering which is weather tight and securely attached to the building framing
- Do nothing unless the architect or engineer and owner decide that the veneer is a hazard.
