Bricks shedding a thin coat?

[MoonMan2]

I have noticed on my house thin layers of brick shedding off some of the yellow bricks - not the red ones (they appear to have a different, rougher cast finish). When the 'shedding' occurs, it appears to reveal a smoother yellow surface of the brick, almost like the brick is losing its 'old skin'.

and this photo;

The 'shedded' layers are only 2 or 3 mm thick;

Side on, compared to one pound coin;

I'm finding a few of these sheddings from the yellow bricks around the side of the house; perhaps five or six of them this year, but we have had a lot of rain recently.

Here is some pictures of the gable end of the house:

and this one:

Should I be worried about this 'brick shedding'?

 

[noseall]

Should I be worried about this 'brick shedding'?

No. You are one of the lucky ones, in that each time a bit of brick falls so does a pound coin.
Each loss will be offset with a gain.

 

[JohnD]

is that wall getting excessively wet, for example from an overflow pipe or gutter?

Is Renfrewshire often frosty?

 

[tony1851]

Frost damage; quite normal for the crappy bricks commonly used in modern houses.

 

[noseall]

Those bricks are not only the ugliest I've seen but must be the worst peforming too. So not fit for purpose.

 

[^woody^]

It looks like you've got poorly made bricks. Perhaps not the whole brick, but the way that face has been applied to what looks like a normal dragged face brick, seems to be the problem.

Expect more spalling, you won't stop it, but just keep your eye on the smoother face once the outer piece had fallen away. If that remains intact then you will be fine.

 

[MoonMan2]

I have looked at the neighbours houses and many of their yellow bricks have similar questionable 'outer applied facial render'.

JohnD; no, there is no issue with poor guttering or overflow pipe. In fact the guttering, soffits and fascia were all replaced last year. However, we do get a hell of a lot of wind and heavy rain. Also, yes, we do get a lot of temperatures below zero in Renfrewshire (borders Glasgow).

Thanks Woody for your explanation; that, on close examination of the surface of the bricks, appears to make perfect sense.

I took a couple of close up shots from my bathroom window:

First of all two bricks that are 'shedding':

And now comparing these two 'shedding' bricks to the ones just below them:

It reassures me that, as you have hypothesised Woody and as can be seen, once the bricks have 'shedded' they appear to be smooth and robust.

One can only wonder if this 'extra facial layer' applied to the surfaces of these bricks was an intentional attempt at cosmetic render or accidental?

 

[terrypin]

The brick joints(recessed/raked)aren't really suitable to your climate(over exposure to rain/frost/freezing) as they don't shed water and therefore freezing temperatures will cause problems, ie, bursting the face.

 

[MoonMan2]

terrypin; if I may draw attention to what I said in my original post.

not the red ones (they appear to have a different, rougher cast finish)

Whilst I can only accept what you're saying, that the mortar application style between the bricks isn't ideal for my part of the country, you must accept that there is no such 'Facial shedding' occurring with the red bricks (you can see them in photos on first posting).

The million dollar questions here are:

1) Was this render on the yellow bricks attached on purpose for aesthetic reasons or did it occur accidentally during the process of 'flawed' manufacturer of the bricks?

2) Will this 'facial shedding', in turn, cause the rest of the brick to erode OR is this rendering 'not really' fused properly to the brick and once it sheds - THAT'S IT, little or no more erosion will occur?

 

[stuart45]

The bricks like Bectons or similar which are made that way.
The joints look like standard tooled joints which have weathered over the years and now look recessed in places.
If you live in an exposed area the slop clay used for the texture will drop off in time but the bricks themselves will last longer.

 

[MoonMan2]

Thanks, stuart45; so the answer to question 1, is the texture is intentional and the answer to question 2, is the brick will last longer than this intentional 'slop texture'.

The house was built in 1999. If the 'slop' of the bricks has lasted 16 years before beginning to erode and the actual brick is going to last longer than that, then I should have little to worry about for a few decades?