1.5 inch deep horizontal slot within an 8 inch thick brick wall

[CWEngineer]

I am looking into embedding a 3/4" inch water pipe into a brick wall for a house in Mexico. The wall is approximately 45 foot in length, and approximately 10 to 12 feet high. The waterline will placed approximately 2 feet above the ground. The wall has concrete columns at both edges with a beam at the top and filled in with bricks. I don't really have information regarding the rebar within the columns or beam.

The plan is to put 3/4" water pipes within the walls, which is going to require to excavate into the brick and columns about 1.5 inches in depth. At one column and for about 25 foot of the wall, I am assuming the height of the 1.5" deep slot is going to be about 2 inches. And for about 20 foot of the wall and the other column I a assuming the height of the 1.5 inch deep slot is going to be about 6 inches because there are going to be two water pipes in that area. Then after placing the water pipes within the 1.5 inch slot, it is going to filled with mortar or concrete, which will provide a 0.5 inch cover for the pipes.

Trying to figure out if there should be a concern for having this 1.5 inch deep slot within this 8 inch thick brick wall and columns? Really appreciate your feedback.

 

[CWEngineer]

I know there is a maximum hole size for pipes/wires within 2x4 wall studs for wood houses, I do not know what that dimension is right now. I am assuming there is a maximum allowable section cut for different brick walls with different depths?

 

[concretemasonry]

It sounds like you have a wall that is a confined infill within a reinforced concrete structure. That is quite common in your area, except for the 10' to 12' wall height for a house. If that is the case your brick are probably not load-bearing.

If you have proper cover for the steel in columns, you should not not be deep enough to uncover the reinforcement.

You should do some on-site investigating or probing to determine the feasibility.

Dick

Engineer and international traveler interested in construction techniques, problems and proper design.