Brick veneer separating. Looking for an alternative to full teardown?

Question

I have a rental property where the brick veneer is pulling away from the house. The current recommendation is complete teardown and rebuild.  I’d like to make sure there isn’t a practical stabilization option first.  The consensus root cause is inadequate or missing wall ties.

I’ve seen repairs on You Tubre where existing veneer is pushed back into position and secured with retrofit/helical masonry ties into the framing. Has anyone successfully used this approach?

I’m especially interested in whether you were able to:

• Stabilize most of the existing brick
• Rebuild only the worst sections
•

Stabilize most of the existing brick

Rebuild only the worst sections

Any experience with a Chicago/Joliet area contractor would be appreciated.

Josh C. · Answer

How many stories in the building? Unless it's really bad you should be able to use brick ties to secure to the framing and tuck point as needed.

Alison Robinson · Answer

The brick is only about 4' up the building. Here is the worst section. There is concern that the wood behind the brick is damaged. Other areas have pulled away 0-3".  I've spoken with several Masons.

Chris Seveney · Answer

Without seeing pictures tough to say but you can as you mention pin the brick back to the structure and I have done this on commercial properties in the past. We were able to stabilize the existing brick and did not have to rebuild any of it, but that also would depend on how bad it is. Also what is the cause? Was the cavity filled with debris and not draining properly? The other thing to consider is why did this happen so it does not happen in future or cause other areas to fail