How Retrofitting Can Hurt Bricks

This wall was painted to protect it, but the paint made it worse. The problem was not solved until gaskets were installed around the indoor electrical outlets. It's very common nowadays to see a band of deteriorated brick on the top of a house—usually about six inches above the newly insulated ceiling. Brick is a sturdy, good-looking exterior finish. But it also is easily destroyed and can look very run-down. All too often we work on a house without realizing the effect it can have on exterior brick, or we attempt to maintain it and unintentionally make things worse. First, how does a brick wall work when it is working well? Brick