Masonry Magazine December 2004 Page. 31
MORTAR
The cavity wall is considered by many to be the optimal brick design for successful masonry buildings.
Responding to this challenge, several companies now manufacture products that are installed throughout the full height of the airspace to assure a clean cavity. By installing a full-height drainage material that does not allow mortar to make contact with the backup, a continuous drainage area is the result. Additionally, these products make smaller cavities possible, which allow increased insulation or overall wall thickness reduction. Even though these products have quite different physical properties, the concept is still the same: full-height airspace maintenance that prevents both mortar droppings and mortar bridging. Anything else is only solving part of the problem associated with mortar management.
There are a number of masonry wall designs that are constructed every day, but for the mason there is one wall design that may be the greatest challenge when it comes to managing mortar. The cavity wall is considered by many to be the optimal brick design for successful masonry buildings, but it can have problems due to excess mortar in the airspace and at the flashings. We have read many articles that document the need for a clean airspace and unobstructed weeps. There are several schools of thought to manage mortar in the airspace. Only one is emerging that can handle all of the problems that mortar droppings create: a full-height drainage material that completely prevents mortar droppings in the first place.
Well, sorry, I have done it again. By the time this magazine reaches you, my Google search will produce 17,101 results. But alternative approaches are taking hold, and maybe over time we can move our discussions from the question of how to keep a cavity wall clear to something equally interesting and important.
Sarah B. Atkins, CSI, CCPR, is President of Archovations, Inc. She can be reached at (715) 381-5773.
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