Masonry Magazine December 2004 Page. 28
OVER 20,000 SOLD
WHEN I SAT DOWN TO WRITE THIS ARTICLE, I began by looking at the designated topic: What we do to manage mortar droppings. As I wrote, the words flowed with ease answering the typical questions: Why are mortar droppings a problem? What have we done to address these issues to date? What are the commercially available mortar collectors, and what makes one better than another?
As I read what I had written, I practically dozed off. This information has been studied, written and read many times by countless others. I confirmed my belief by searching for the phrase "mortar droppings" on Google. The search returned 17,100 results. With the echo of endless repeated political ads still ringing in my head, I decided now is not the time to reiterate that which you already know: we need to manage mortar droppings.
But then what do I discuss? How do I bring a new approach or point of view to a consensus we collectively reached long ago? A need to rehash the issues comes yet again.
There are two major issues when it comes to managing mortar within the cavity: the need to ensure weep function and the need to address mortar bridges throughout the entire height of the airspace.
Mortar droppings are excess mortar that fall to the flashings. Mortar droppings obstruct a properly detailed and constructed flashing system, blocking weeps and preventing the drainage wall from functioning. An initial means of protecting weeps from mortar droppings was to place pea gravel in the cavity. We quickly learned that this did not resolve our issues - we merely raised the location of the solid ledge of mortar to the top of the pea gravel.
A huge improvement over pea gravel came when commercially available drainage materials were introduced to the marketplace. These products come in various configurations, all of which break up mortar droppings in one manner or another to reduce the opportunity of creating a solid obstruction above the weeps.
The second issue is mortar bridging. Mortar bridges occur when mortar makes contact with the backup. When mortar makes contact with the backup, a mortar bridge between the masonry veneer and the backup is created (see photo). A mortar bridge will impede the flow of moisture to the flashing level, and it will make it harder for air to flow within airspace. Moisture can pond on top of mortar bridges. If moisture is collecting at locations where insulation joints are not properly sealed, moisture will have the opportunity to get behind the insulation. Building owners are extremely sensitive to moisture-related issues.
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