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A job in Tacoma showed me the real cost of skipping the weep holes | Bricklayers - Opinions Matter

A job in Tacoma showed me the real cost of skipping the weep holes

I just finished a repair job on a 15-foot brick wall that was only built about 18 months ago. The original crew had laid the brick beautifully, but they completely forgot to put in any weep holes along the bottom course. The homeowner called me because the mortar was already crumbling and there was a constant damp smell inside. I pulled off a few bricks and found a ton of water trapped behind the wall, just sitting there. Over less than two years, that moisture had started to rot the wood framing and rust the metal ties. The fix cost them over $3,000, which is way more than the five minutes it would have taken to pop in some plastic vents during the build. It was a clear before-and-after of a solid wall turning into a big, wet problem. Has anyone else seen damage happen that fast from missing weeps?

3 comments

3 Comments

sandrashah6mo ago

How fast did the damage spread to the framing? That's crazy it got that bad so quick. I mean, you always hear it's important, but seeing it wreck a new wall like that really shows it. Makes you wonder how many other new builds are just ticking time bombs because someone skipped a simple step.

kevin2186mo ago

You're right about it being a real eye-opener, @sandrashah. My buddy had a similar scare with a brand new deck. The builders didn't flash a ledger board right, and water just poured in behind it for a whole season. By the time they caught it, the rim joist was totally spongy. Really makes you question what else gets missed when they're rushing to finish a house.

wright.jesse5mo ago

Spongy! That is absolutely TERRIFYING to hear. A whole rim joist just turned to mush in one season? Water damage usually takes YEARS to get that bad unless something is SERIOUSLY wrong. That builder must have just slapped that deck on and hoped for the best. It makes you wonder how many other houses out there have hidden rot behind the walls just waiting to reveal itself. Really puts the whole "new construction is better" argument in a completely different light.