BRICK BY BRICK

Make sure you stay on top of the exterior before you do a ton of work inside the home

Spring means a time of renewal. The snow melts away, and green starts to creep back into our parks, yards and gardens. For many, it means time to refresh after a long winter — and homeowners may start to look at their homes toward some much-desired renovations.

Being cooped up in your home all winter, you may start to feel tired of your kitchen or dining room — and so out come your paint swatches and flooring samples to bring some life back to some tired spaces.

Before you do (and I’m not saying you shouldn’t), I want you to take a good, long look at the exterior of your home. Winter may have made you tire of your interior, but it could have done some serious damage to your exterior — and before you tackle any indoor projects, I want you to make sure the exterior is up to snuff before you call your interior designer.

I’ve written about roofs recently — so you should have already inspected yours for signs of damage, now it’s time to look toward your bricks, masonry, and foundation. Here’s where you start:

GO BRICK BY BRICK

Your masonry provides key protection against damage from moisture penetration. Inspect the mortar between your bricks carefully. If it’s crumbling or missing altogether (often happening over time due to erosion from water and wind), you need to replace it quickly.

Left unattended, it can cause bricks to loosen and create a path for water to get in. Once that water enters, it can cause mould and rot — leading to a much bigger, more difficult fix. Water that sits on exposed brick will seep in and cause the brick to flake.

Repointing is the process of scraping out the old, damaged mortar and replacing it with new. Brick walls tend to have a lot of longevity, but if you don’t address mortar issues quickly, you could see your brick wall fall far earlier than it should. Don’t skimp on it. In cases of very minor cracking, you can probably handle some of the repairs yourself using some materials you find at the hardware store, but if it seems like too big a job for you, call in an expert.

The life cycle of brick versus mortar is pretty significant.

You’ll likely have to do mortar repairs a few times during the lifespan of a brick wall— but that’s a good thing if you do it right.

LAYING A GOOD FOUNDATION

With spring comes a lot of excess water — and you may find yourself with some water in the basement. Your job is to find the source of the water. Is it a foundation issue? Every spring, you should take a walk around your foundation looking for instances of new cracks.

If you see one, it’s important not to panic. Cracks happen naturally — especially for newer homes, as the foundation continues to settle. Mark any cracks you find with some tape, and keep a close eye on them for about three months. If that crack hasn’t expanded, you’ll likely be able to fill it with an epoxy injection or an expandable foam.

Now, if you find a crack big enough to fit a coin into — call somebody right away. And I mean a foundation pro as well as a structural engineer. This isn’t something you’re going to want to fix yourself. If water is pooling around your foundation, it will eventually find a way inside. This is a good time of year to examine the grading and drainage around your yard.

If you have an unfinished basement, make sure to repeat this process indoors as well.

Don’t get me wrong, I get the desire to make big cosmetic changes to your home — especially after a long winter. I don’t want to discourage anyone from tackling these projects. I just want to make sure you’ve got the right perspective as a homeowner.

Problems with the outside of your home will eventually find their way inside. When it comes to issues like moisture penetration, if there’s a way in, you can bet the water will eventually find it.

To me, the idea of doing a big interior renovation before addressing the exterior building envelope is backward thinking. Why? Well, if that moisture gets in and causes mould and rot, chances are you may have to tear down that brand new kitchen and start from scratch. Something to think about while you’re looking at your paint swatches.