What the Ottawa House Inspector Saw - Filled Weep Holes

Posted on April 10, 2009 
Filed Under Buying Your New Home, Valerie Zinger

If you look at the photo, you will see that there appear to be two gaps where the mason did not finish his work.  It looks like the mortar fell out of from between the bricks.  Au contraire.  These gaps have a purpose but some homeowners do not know this and fill in the gaps.  At one inspection I was on with my Buyers, the home inspector noticed that the gaps had been filled in subsequent to building (different mortar) and advised the Buyers to chip out the filling.  Why?

Brick is porous and water can get behind the brick.  Think of a windy day with rain pounding on your brick wall.  Water will penetrate and accumulate.   The weep holes at the bottom of the wall allow this accumulated water to drain.  Without the gaps, moisture will stay locked in the gap space between the brick facade and the back up material.  This is where rot and mold will start.  If you have a brick veneer, look for weep holes every 24 inches and ensure that they are not blocked or that the landscaping has risen higher than the weep holes.  If there never were weep holes, it would be a huge job to have them installed so you might be best to leave your walls alone until such time as brickwork is required.  At that point, talk to the contractor about weep holes. 

It is impossible for the average home buyer to know everything about a house.  A home inspector gives the Buyer information about the house that can be used to make a purchasing decision.

Don’t shed tears because of blocked weep holes.

Valerie Zinger ~ Ottawa, Canada ~ 613-723-5300 ~ vzinger@royallepage.ca

 

Comments

One Response to “What the Ottawa House Inspector Saw - Filled Weep Holes”

  1. Shalanda Wilson on June 29th, 2009 12:45 am

    I saw some bees sitting in one of my weep holes. Can they invade the house through the weep hole?

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