PSA: Check your brick ties on a windy site before you start a full course

I was laying up a garden wall in a spot that gets a lot of wind, and I didn't think to double-check the ties I'd set in the block behind. Halfway through the second course, a big gust came through and the whole section wobbled because a tie had slipped. It took me over two hours to carefully take down the brick, reset the ties with fresh mortar, and start again. Has anyone else run into this on a really exposed job?

3 comments

3 Comments

jessica_ross3813d ago

Finley's point about the mortar not being set is huge. I've seen guys on sites get burned by the SCHEDULE, not just the wind. Like, the foreman pushes to get the ties in and the brick started before lunch on a Friday, but that last batch of mortar was mixed thin. Then the weekend storms roll in and it's all over. The wind exposes a rush job way faster than any inspector.

ray_miller411d ago

My buddy Carl lost a whole wall in '08.

finleyw5813d ago

What kind of ties were you using that slipped out? I've had the cheap wire ones pull right out of fresh mortar in high wind before it fully set.