[allsmiles]

Hi Guys, great forum!!

I am planning to install a 7 inch raised patio beside my house, and some contractors are telling me it is fine to do, but others are telling me that covering 2 rows of brick will cause problems becuase water will flow through the subbase and be absorbed by the brick, and that eventually the weight of the patio will push the brick wall inward and damage the interior of my house. Is this true?

allsmiles

[natural12]

The weight of the patio is a not pushing against the house. Water would be the only concern. Apply water proofing to the brick and you should have no worries.

[Matt Kulp]

Water Proofing is good, but just make sure you pitch the patio away from the house. There should be no reason that you would have enough water make it through the base to set against the walls.

[dan deutekom]

Make sure to water proof the brick, pitch patio away from house and also make sure that the weep holes of the brick are not blocked or covered. If the weep holes get covered I would not go this route.

[NCSULandscaper]

if the weep holes do get covered, i would think you could seal them up and drill in new weep holes above the patio, after all the void behind the veneer goes all the way to the top of the brick

[Stonehenge]

Are you having contractors out to your house for free advice? I hope not - kinda wasting their time, time they need to use to earn a living. Feed their families and stuff.

[allsmiles]

@stonehenge: I'm having contractors do the work, and I'm trying to select based upon quality of service and installation, not on price. The problem is, I am being told different things from different contractors. I think some of the difference comes because it is an easier job not to have the patio raised, so telling me that the raised patio will cause deformation to my house is a good way to get me to think twice!!

I see that you are an administrator here. It would be great if you could organize the professional members from this exchange by Region. There are quite a few regular contributors here, but it is hard to thell from your members list who is a local contractor to what area, except by opening up each individual name. If you have members that service the Brampton, Ontario area, please let me know.

@Dan D, NCSU, Matt & natural: Thanks for the comments, I had thought about waterproofing the bricks, but didn't think about the brick weep holes. I want to make sure that whoever does this job, does it right. Do any of you do work in Brampton, Ontario?

[dan deutekom]

Matt

I am not saying that you couldn't do as you suggest but weep holes are on the bottom course of brick so that condensation can drain out. If you plug the exisiting weep holes and drill new ones several courses higher how is the condensation going to drain? If moisture sits in this void for a few years what will the damage be. I have never had straight answers on these questions and therefore I won't go above the weep holes when building a patio.

[dan deutekom]

Allsmiles:

I work out of the Peterborough area and Brampton is a little to far away for me. May I suggest that you goto Landscape Ontario - Find a Professional which is the Landscape Ontario website. Here you will find a list of contractors that are members of Landscape Ontario which is the largest and most professional trade association in Canada. Hope this helps.

[Stonehenge]

Ah, I thought this was a DIY project.

As for sorting the members by city across the planet and have that data be indexable and searchable - good idea, but don't hold your breath.

[NCSULandscaper]

Originally Posted by dan deutekom

Matt

I am not saying that you couldn't do as you suggest but weep holes are on the bottom course of brick so that condensation can drain out. If you plug the exisiting weep holes and drill new ones several courses higher how is the condensation going to drain? If moisture sits in this void for a few years what will the damage be. I have never had straight answers on these questions and therefore I won't go above the weep holes when building a patio.

Now maybe thats a regional thing, because around here, your weep holes are installed about 2' or so above the ground. Ive never seen a weep hole drain anything coming from brick veneer, just allows air flow throughout the void so condensation doesnt occur(makes the void temp the same as the outside temp, or close to it)

[GLAN]

I'm just wondering what is so wrong with a step down to the patio from the door?

[allsmiles]

We will have a step down, but even so, we will still be covering up 2 layers of brick. We would have to have at least two steps down to get level with the top of our foundation, but we want to avoid 2 steps for accessibility reasons.

[dan deutekom]

Matt:

You may be right that it is a regional thing. What you say makes a lot of sense. I have never seen anything come out of a weep hole either. Going to have to research this a little more.