The Problem
The owner of a 1958 Cape Cod in West Morton Grove called after noticing a section of the front brick wall was bowing outward. The affected area - about 16 feet wide centered on the first-floor window - had moved roughly 1.5 inches out of plane. Tapping the brick face produced a hollow sound across the bottom eight courses, confirming the veneer had separated from the wood frame backup wall behind it.
The cause was tie failure. The original corrugated galvanized steel ties had corroded through over 67 years of service. With no mechanical connection remaining, that section of veneer was held in place only by the mortar bond to the courses above and below - a temporary condition that would not survive another winter freeze-thaw cycle.
Our Solution
We carefully removed the 12 affected courses of brick in the 16-foot section, starting from the top of the detached area and working down. Each brick was removed with a cold chisel to avoid damaging the backup wall sheathing behind. Many original bricks were undamaged and were set aside for reuse after cleaning mortar residue from their faces and beds.
The backup wall sheathing was inspected for water damage - there was minor surface staining but no structural damage to the framing behind. New stainless steel corrugated ties were fastened into wall studs at code-compliant spacing: every 24 inches horizontally, every other course vertically, embedded a minimum of 1.5 inches into the mortar bed.
The veneer was rebuilt from the bottom up, incorporating original salvaged bricks mixed with a small quantity of period-matched new bricks to complete the section. All joints were set in Type N mortar, and we tooled a matching concave profile to align with the existing wall above.
The Result
The rebuilt section is mechanically anchored to the framing with a full stainless steel tie system. The veneer is plumb and in the same plane as the undisturbed wall above. Original brick was reused wherever possible - the rebuilt section blends with the adjacent courses.
The homeowner was advised to monitor the remaining tie condition on the east and north elevations, which were not part of this project but are approaching the same age as the failed section.
