Is it okay to have brick below grade? My house was built in 1967. The walls are brick and block construction. The soil is graded on top of 3 courses of brick. One of my neighbors said that this is common in the area (Maryland) and it's not a problem. The garage is on a slab and the footings aren't very deep. I think that they are roughly 30 in. with the soil backfilled on the brick. The rest of the house is 2-story over a basement with a block foundation.
Asked
Active
Viewed 1,223 times
1 Answers
2
Many, many houses have brick foundations, or brick-over-fieldstone as mine does. If it was built properly, and maintained properly, it's fine; mine (with a real basement, brick down to about 6' below grade) has lasted over 100 years so far.
keshlam
- 22,920
- 5
- 43
- 79
-
Doesn't it depend on ground water? A moist topsoil is not something you want to put bricks in. – ratchet freak Sep 18 '15 at 10:28
-
2I'm in the 100-year floodplain. That's not exactly dry soil. – keshlam Sep 18 '15 at 12:33