Double Brick Vs. Brick Veneer

Identifying Walls

• Brick walls and brick veneer are both made with the same types of brick. You can usually tell solid brick from veneer brick by the type of construction. A house with only one brick wall is a façade. Brick walls with 4-inch faces outward almost certainly are veneer; all bricks are approximately 2 inches by 4 inches by 8 inches and are normally laid with the 4-inch faces flat for maximum strength. Walls with layers of bricks alternating between rows of 8-inch bricks and 4-inch ends are usually solid, because they are laid crosswise to connect two sides of the wall.

Solid Patterns

• Both solid walls, made with double bricks, and veneer walls are laid on a base of solid concrete. Solid walls are essentially two walls of brick connected by crosswise bricks that overlap the sides. There are a number of patterns to accomplish this. One version alternates bricks laid lengthwise with bricks across the two wall sides. Another variation has a course of lengthwise bricks with a perpendicular course above it and another version uses standard overlapping bricks lengthwise with perpendicular bricks every third or sixth layer.

Veneer Walls

• Brick veneer walls are built against a wall framed with 2-inch-by-4-inch boards and covered with plywood or oriented strand board sheathing. The veneer is secured to the sheathing with brick ties, thin metal strips nailed to the sheathing on one end with the other end set in mortar between bricks. It is most often laid in a running bond pattern, with the end of one brick overlapping the course beneath it by half a brick length. End courses to mimic the appearance of solid walls sometimes are added by cutting bricks in half.

Cracks and Mortar Problems

• Both double brick and brick veneer walls are subject to cracking if the underlying base settles or shifts. Both are also subject to deterioration of the connecting mortar if water seeps into it. Either style should have mortar joints finished with a steel tool that presses the mortar into a concave pattern so water will drain out. Veneer walls are easier to insulate, because insulation can be added between the studs of the wood wall.