Q: I have noticed that many arches use special tapered brick. Can an arch be made with standard brick units?
Q: I am working on a building that has 3-foot-high horizontal bands of brick veneer, supported by shelf angles attached to the edge of an 8-inch-thick concrete flat plate structure.
I am working on a brick building that has masonry parapets with a face brick veneer that extends past the concrete roof slab and two common brick wythes supported on the roof slab. The masonry parapets are being repaired due to deterioration. In conjunction with the repairs, we want to increase the height of the parapets around 1 foot to 16 inches to better conceal some of the equipment on the roof. How far can the brick parapet be increased without bracing or reinforcing it?
In many buildings that have rows of closely spaced windows, it is almost impossible to avoid having vertical expansion joints against the window frame. In these cases, should the expansion joint line up with the jamb of the window or should it jog around the end of the lintel angle?
I recall that earlier versions of the Brick Industry Association's Technical Note 28B recommended that mortar should be Type S for brick veneer over steel stud back-up walls when wind loads exceed 25 psf, and that only portland cement-lime mortars should be used. I noticed that in the December 2005 version this language was modified. Now it states that Type N mortar is recommended with Type S as an alternate. Will Type N mortar have sufficient strength in this wall system?
