Concrete for covering brick

[196970]

Hi, guys:

I lived in Detroit, MI area. The bricks of my porch
have some peel-offs probably because of freeze-thaw cycles.
What type of concrete can I use to cover the bricks
(vertically)? Or, what is the easiest way to protect
the bricks from further deteriorate? BTW, I just wonder
why the bricks on the house are pretty sound, and they
are adjacent each other?

Thanks in advance.

Henry

 

[TheBlacksmith]

Two scenarios come to mind; 1) you use some ice melter on your porch and it runs down onto the bricks - stop using ice melter, just use sand, 2) the porch bricks are subject to hard freezing and the house bricks get enough heat leaking through the walls of the house to avoid a hard freeze.

As for covering them, if they have damage, they may continue to spall and whatever you put over them will fall off with the next layer of brick. Removal and replacement with bricks suitable for your climate may be the best.

Blacksmith

 

[jons999]

Had the same problem here in the same type of climate, if you mortar them up, it should last 4 or 5 years before falling off (at least in my experiance). It might be helpful to chisel some concrete out of the joints so the mortar has somewhere to "grip"

 

[wolfhnd]

I fixed a similar problem in stone by drilling holes in it and inserting fiberglass rod in the holes then building an epoxy concrete filler. I would try coloring the concrete to match the brick and them putting mortar around the patches. Trust me it's worth the effort