Realigning Brick Veneer

[RLM2000]

Hello All,

Thank you for looking at my thread. Please excuse my naivety in regards to hollow clay brick.

I have a client with a steel stud/brick veneer building that was hit by a car last weekend. They are in a panic to get plans on the street for bid purposes, due to the nature of their business.

The vehicle struck the building at a corner taking out some windowns, columns and a chunk of the veneer wall. Most of the wall was windows. The veneer wall parallel to the impact direction bulged outward away from the studs anywhere from 1/4" to 1-1/4". It looks as if it were a buckling failure in a beam, quite remarkable really. This of course has upset the finish and tweaked all of the windows and alignment of the veneer.

My client has asked me to try and pull the veneer back towards the studs. The more I think about it the less likely it seems like a safe alternative. I understand where they are coming from, but it just seems like even if it were possible we would be re-mortaring all the newly formed cracks and adding misery to simply tearing down the brick and re-building the section. Not to mention decreasing the serviceability of the structure at the window and HVAC joints.

The section in question is 25' high by 18 feet long.

Should I be attempting to suck the bricks back in, or do I have good arguments for starting the section again?

Thanks for your help

 

[Ron]

If you have "bulging" of the brick veneer, then one of two things has happened...either the brick ties have come loose from the substrate (studs or sheathing), or the studs have deflected outward such that they are likely in combined bending and axial load...not a condition desirable in steel studs.

In either case, the appropriate remediation is to remove the brick veneer, make sure the substrate is stable and sound, then reinstall the veneer.

 

[jike]

If they want it done in a hurry, just go with a repetuable contractor, get a not to exceed, and forgo the bidding process.