Bricks under window are cracked, how to fix that?

[go77306]

as in photo:



how can I fix it without removing the window frame? suggestions?

thanks

[Drthorne]

the problem is the brick retains moisture. During the winter it freezes and cracks the brick, so putting new brick will not fix the problem. it should be precast concrete sill.



or you can cap it with aluminum

[go77306]

is it possible to diy? Or how hard is it to diy?? I guess I will have to remove windows?

[Faemow]

Yah thats too bad.

If you want to do what said, it's an entire tear out of the window. If you get a professional brick layer, it's a tear out of the sill and replace it with a new one. However, the window system still looks intact and there are no visible signs of leakage. The sill still functions as it should, it's just kinda ugly that's all.

[drb789]

Mine are the same - but not as bad.
Count on about $50 per foot if you have a bricklayer putting in a concrete sill.

[go77306]

Mine are the same - but not as bad.
Count on about $50 per foot if you have a bricklayer putting in a concrete sill.

Do you know which company can do it? I googled and couldn't find anything.

I want to get it fixed before the winter.

thanks

[Quick_lude]

Yah thats too bad.

If you want to do what said, it's an entire tear out of the window. .

Lol.. why would you have to tear out the whole window. You can cut the caulking and chip away the brick.

Yes, it would be easier without the window and you might not find concrete sill of exactly the same thickness...

[tommyamaral]

I agree lots of work but you don't have to remove the window. This type of requires lots of chipping away. If I had time i would have done this for you but sorry crazy busy at work and home.

[Maymybonneliveforever]

It looks as though your window is fairly new so removing it again would not be much fun. I'm having the same problem but not as bad and thought about just removing the lower bricks and installing the sill. When they installed my windows they placed silicone along the bottom wood and foam insulation along the top and sides. At no point did the silcone touch the brick so you should be ok to remove the bricks without upsetting the structure of the window install.

Remove the lower bead of silcone along bottom metal cap. Chip away the bricks and clean the area with a vacuum or compressed air. Reinstall the new one piece sill as suggested with sufficient silicone or adhesive. Make sure it's square and level to provide a slight slope for rain drain off. Let dry, then resilicone along bottom side of window. Make sure to recheck all your work before slicone or adhesive dries.

Let us know how you make out.

[BartBandy]

Builders who use brick sills should be hung by their toenails. Over time, half of them seem to spall like this one, and if you don't fix the problem, it will just continue down the wall below.

Call a couple of masons (not the ones in funny hats), and get prices on new precast sills. You may want to do more than the one problem window.

[CaptSmethwick]

I wouldn't knock brick sills but I agree that it's not the way to go if the window is exposed to direct rain (as this one seems to be). The OP's bricks have spalled because they've been exposed to direct rain and several freeze-thaw cycles.

In our case (fortunately), we have a deep roof overhang that protects the windows and the sills - our brick sills were recently removed after 25+ years and they were in absolutely perfect, unblemished condition. We removed them when we replaced the windows as we were already enlarging one window and needed to do some masonry work anyway - and prefer the aesthetics of the concrete sills.

Just to confirm what others have said: one shouldn't need to remove the window in order to replace these sills. In our case, the sills were removed when the old windows were in place and the new sills went in after the new windows were installed.

[l69norm]

OP, did this problem start happening after you had the new vinyl windows installed?

I think the problem may be a combination of 2 things.

1) I think the brick wall under the windows was built wrong. There should be weep holes underneath the window to allow water to drain out (see the red circles). If you look at the two bricks on the window ledge at each edge (see the green circles), they are still in good shape even though they are exposed to the same amount of moisture on the outside. It's only the bricks directly beneath the window frame that have a problem:



There's either flashing or plastic sheet at the bottom of the frame which directs the water out these holes. Sometimes, you can see the plastic sheet embedded in the mortar in the row of bricks underneath your window.

See this cross section of a typical window:



Water behind the brick veneer drains downward to the flashings and gets directed outwards through the weep holes.

If the water can't get out, its going to try to seep through the bricks on the ledge. When the bricks freeze/thaw in the winter, the water inside the brick expands and pops out the surface.


2) The vinyl window (looks like a recent change) may be installed wrong. Some vinyl windows have internal drains so water that does enter the frame can drain out (otherwise it would eventually build up, freeze and crack the vinyl frame). See this cross section off the nrcan site:



There's an internal drain right at the outer edge of the vinyl frame in the drawing above. Some other types of vinyl window frames have external drains at the bottom covered by weather protectors, but I don't see these on the OP's windows so I assume it uses an internal drain.

The water from the window frame drains into the gaps between the brick veneer and the sheathing, down to the flashing and out the weep holes in the brickwork.

The window installer might have used too much expanding foam and accidentally sealed the gap between the brick veneer and the sheathing underneath the window. The water draining out has nowhere to go except through the bricks where it freezes/thaws in winter and pops the surface out

.

OP, you should ask in the Windowguy super thread and see what he has to say.

[Jamie_Canuck]

Here's an old 'do it your selfer' trick...

[go77306]

Hi, thanks for your explanation.

The sills were cracked even before I replaced the windows. I think I know exactly what the problems, in winter time, i see lots of snow accumulated on the sills, and there is no slope on the sills, or the slope is towards to windows not to outside, when temperature is above 0, snow melts, but since there is no slope water cannot go out, so water stays there and flow to small cracks of the brick, then temperature drops and freezes and expands which caused the problem.

How easy is it to chip the brick off and replace with concrete?

OP, did this problem start happening after you had the new vinyl windows installed?

I think the problem may be a combination of 2 things.

1) I think the brick wall under the windows was built wrong. There should be weep holes underneath the window to allow water to drain out (see the red circles). If you look at the two bricks on the window ledge at each edge (see the green circles), they are still in good shape even though they are exposed to the same amount of moisture on the outside. It's only the bricks directly beneath the window frame that have a problem:



There's either flashing or plastic sheet at the bottom of the frame which directs the water out these holes. Sometimes, you can see the plastic sheet embedded in the mortar in the row of bricks underneath your window.

See this cross section of a typical window:



Water behind the brick veneer drains downward to the flashings and gets directed outwards through the weep holes.

If the water can't get out, its going to try to seep through the bricks on the ledge. When the bricks freeze/thaw in the winter, the water inside the brick expands and pops out the surface.


2) The vinyl window (looks like a recent change) may be installed wrong. Some vinyl windows have internal drains so water that does enter the frame can drain out (otherwise it would eventually build up, freeze and crack the vinyl frame). See this cross section off the nrcan site:



There's an internal drain right at the outer edge of the vinyl frame in the drawing above. Some other types of vinyl window frames have external drains at the bottom covered by weather protectors, but I don't see these on the OP's windows so I assume it uses an internal drain.

The water from the window frame drains into the gaps between the brick veneer and the sheathing, down to the flashing and out the weep holes in the brickwork.

The window installer might have used too much expanding foam and accidentally sealed the gap between the brick veneer and the sheathing underneath the window. The water draining out has nowhere to go except through the bricks where it freezes/thaws in winter and pops the surface out

.

OP, you should ask in the Windowguy super thread and see what he has to say.

[CaptSmethwick]

Hi, thanks for your explanation.

The sills were cracked even before I replaced the windows. I think I know exactly what the problems, in winter time, i see lots of snow accumulated on the sills, and there is no slope on the sills, or the slope is towards to windows not to outside, when temperature is above 0, snow melts, but since there is no slope water cannot go out, so water stays there and flow to small cracks of the brick, then temperature drops and freezes and expands which caused the problem.

How easy is it to chip the brick off and replace with concrete?

I agree with your explanation - brick spalls whenever the slope does not allow runoff and especially so whenever water can sit on top during the winter. Sunny days and cold nights are awful for this and that's why Southern exposure sills usually take a greater beating (all things being equal).
It's not a difficult job but it does require a certain comfort with tools and working with masonry.