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Sloppy brickwork results in false front By Walter V. Robinson and Sacha Pfeiffer, Globe Staff, 5/1/01
OTHER PARTS
Behind a brick wall
Synthetic stucco
WBZ-TV reporter Ron Sanders and photographer Tom Rehkamp joined in the Globe investigation. Watch their reports on RealVideo.
PART ONE
The Globe Spotlight Team would like to hear from readers willing to share their experiences -- or thoughts -- about new home construction. The Spotlight telephone number is (617) 929-3208. Confidential messages about new home construction and other issues can also be left at (617) 929-7483. You can email Spotlight at spotlight@globe.com.
But here at Toll's most expensive Massachusetts subdivision, some of the brickwork might lessen home values. The Spotlight Team observed substandard brickwork that violates accepted industry practice and the state building code, which sets only minimum standards. Masonry experts said the result might be deterioration of the brick and water problems for homeowners.
As the Spotlight Team reported on Sunday, reporters -- and Walter Blair Adams, an independent building code expert retained by the Globe -- found serious defects during periodic visits to three homes under construction here.
In addition to the brickwork, the shortcomings included the use of premanufactured building sections that were damaged or saturated with water after being covered with snow for weeks at a time, and walls that were not properly anchored to the foundations of the homes.
Over the winter months, the Spotlight Team also watched as Toll's masonry subcontractors mortared brick directly to the black felt paper on the sheathing of two of the homes -- foregoing the one-inch airspace that is the industry standard, as well as Toll's. The airspace permits moisture that commonly penetrates a brick surface to flow downward onto flashing and out through weepholes at the bottom of the brick wall.
Moreover, at all three homes where the Spotlight Team monitored construction, there was no evidence the mason added another safeguard against water -- weepholes above doors and windows to give water trapped behind the brick another way out. Failure to include weepholes, and the flashing behind them, is a violation of the state building code.
What's more, the mason and his crew were observed erecting brick fronts in subfreezing temperatures, even though state code requires precautions that include heating or wrapping the completed brickwork until the mortar dries. In the cases witnessed by the Globe, those precautions were not taken.
Experts in masonry work said doing cold-weather brickwork without precautions is likely to weaken the mortar joints. Last week, Spotlight Team members noted pitting and cracking in some mortar joints at one of the houses.
The experts said the shortcuts witnessed by the Globe would quicken the pace of construction for Toll and save the subcontractor money for labor and materials. And they said the damaging effects might not become apparent for some time.
The deficient brickwork was done despite claims on the company's Web site that the Toll project manager "is on your job site every day running the job and coordinating subcontractors. That person is also in your house every day as it's being constructed -- once, twice, three times a day."
Late last week, Toll refused to answer the Globe's questions about the defective brickwork.
During a February visit to the site, a Globe reporter and Matthias J. Mulvey, another building code expert and former president of the Massachusetts Building Commissioners and Inspectors Association, walked up to a brick front under construction at 34 Greenwood Road.
The two visitors witnessed the workers mortaring the brick directly to the felt paper covering the wood sheathing.
Michael Mullane, a Plainville mason who has done work for Toll and who visited the site with a Globe reporter, also expressed dissatisfaction with the masonry quality after reviewing the work at some of the houses.
Mullane, who has done brick fronts for Toll and has also been called in to fix masonry problems at other Toll homes, pointed to many places on the fronts where, he said, there was no airspace behind the brick.
"I do not question Toll's product, just the way they put it together," Mullane said. "They have a wonderful product, and great designs -- but a lot of flaws in their operation."
J. Gregg Borchelt, director of engineering and research at the Brick Industry Association, expressed concern, as did others, at the missing airspace.
It is considered standard practice for masons to provide for the airspace, although the state building code says in one section that it is required and in another that the space may be filled with mortar.
Toll officials, asked what their standards are for brickwork, would only say that the company follows state code. But Mark DiBiasie, Toll's own construction manager at the site, confirmed that the company requires its masonry subcontractors to provide for the airspace.
Added Thomas P. Armitage, a former Toll senior project manager: "A Toll brick front is supposed to have a one-inch airspace." If a subcontractor were not following that policy, he said, "It is not something Toll would stand for. They would insist that it be fixed and done the right way."
Borchelt said the ability of the felt paper covering the wooden wall sheathing to withstand water penetration is impaired if the mortar is in direct contact with the paper. "We know that water gets through the thickness of the masonry, and masonry will absorb water," he said.
Without adequate airspace for drainage, Borchelt added, "a very likely outcome would be that the water will get into the frame, and you will get water in the floors and ceilings. It is also likely that the water in the frame will cause mold and mildew and degradation of the wall -- rotting of the frame."
Borchelt and Rashod Johnson, director of engineering at the Mason Contractors Association of America, said brickwork done in subfreezing weather without taking precautions will, as Johnson said, "do serious damage to the mortar joints."
In cases where newly mortared brick is not kept warm, Johnson added, "then when the mortar dries, it will have air pockets. When it gets wet, the water will infiltrate the air pockets. When it freezes, the air pockets will expand more and more, with eventual failure of the joints, and even greater water seepage into wooden walls."
As for the weepholes, Borchelt said that unless the subcontractor installed flashing behind the brick where the weepholes should be, the only way to head off damage would be to "remove several courses of brick, install the flashing, and reconstruct those sections of the wall."
This story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 5/1/2001.
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© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Co. |
OPKINTON -- One way to make a Toll Brothers home that can cost up to $800,000 look like, well, a million dollars -- and perhaps add to its resale value -- is to add a brick front.
