Brick Pier Question

[Artisan]

I have a question for some of you today. In the NC area, it is a common practice to use the brick curtian wall with piers as a foundation for a residential home. LVL's are used to span the distance serving as the band for the joists. My question is this. What benefit does this method serve? Is it quicker for a mason to lay out the locations of the piers than to lay a masonry wall? What about cost? How cost effective is it to buy large quanities of LVL's compared to masonry? I was just trying to get a couple of insights on this one. Thanks.

 

Visually, the homeowner wants to see a brick masonry foundation wall. To support the floor system, you either need 8 inches of masonry wall or masonry piers. Economically, the mason does not want to pay for 8 inches thick of brick masonry, or even 4 inch of brick and 4 inch of block. The use of brick piers with 4 inch wall is the cheapest way to get the brick look and provide the Code required support for the floor system.