Masonry Magazine March 2011 Page. 33
Typically, issues occur at the beginning and end of our busiest season, when our workforce is its strongest. With this in mind, both issues are simply a site management issue, which is one of the easiest problems for us to solve.
When choosing materials available for jobs today, it is important to do your homework and select products that function as advertised with a proven performance record.
Mortar can be mixed with the same basic admixture that concrete block can be manufactured with, which almost completely repels water and virtually will not allow moisture absorption or infiltration through the body of the product. Products of this nature are inherent and remain as a functioning component of the wall through the lifetime of the building. Moisture prevention is moisture management.
Mortar collection devices are another important feature within a cavity wall that contributes to effective moisture removal from the cavity. The mortar collection device is important, because it creates a separation or break in the mortar droppings that fall into the cavity during construction. The break in the mortar allows the moisture in the cavity to flow past the droppings and out through the weeps in the face of the wall.
Several products and methods that are available represent the various schools of thoughts on the mortar collection system that you choose. Pea gravel, a common collection device, is less efficient in comparison to available products in today's market, because it does not break up the mortar. As the mortar droppings fall into the cavity they create a straight strip of mortar, which continually bridges the cavity, allowing moisture that forms in the cavity to saturate the droppings and allow the possibility of mold and rot in the cavity. Mortar that bridges across the cavity, either at the base of the wall or over a window head, potentially creates the opportunity for splotchy efflorescence bloom. This will remain active as long as moisture fills the cavity.
Mortar collection devices must fill the cavity completely from the inside face of the veneer to outside face of the interior wall. A two-inch cavity will not function properly with a one-inch or slightly greater dimensioned material installed at an angle in the two-inch cavity, unless the weep tabs are continuous and connected to your mortar collection device, providing a continuous path for moisture to exit the cavity. Because the droppings can fall beside the collection device of improper dimension, the mortar tends to create blockage that extends up from the flashing to the
Do your homework and select products that function as advertised with a proven performance record.
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READER SERVICE #278
March 2011
MASONRY 31