If the brick under my porch needs repair, does the cement on top of the bricks need to be supported while the work is being done?
Answer
Not usually. Generally, there is another row of bricks behind the face brick you see from the outside that helps support the porch cap. There should also be backfill inside the porch cavity that was installed before the concrete cap was poured.
There are exceptions, but they occur very rarely and usually can’t be determined until some of the bricks are removed. We don’t have the technology to know exactly what’s behind the brick until we take a look inside.
We deal with this type of repair regularly, and the vast majority of the time (about 95% of the time in our experience), we can replace the damaged brick underneath without disturbing the concrete cap above it. When we remove the first few bricks, we do it carefully and inspect the inside before going any further, just in case there is more wrong with the porch than initially appears.
If there isn’t, we continue with the project. If we do find additional issues, we immediately stop, inform the homeowner, let them see the condition for themselves, and give them the option to continue with a revised quote for the additional repairs or stop the project altogether. If they choose to stop the project, we simply reinstall the few bricks we removed and leave them in better condition than we found them at no charge.
In most cases, the damaged section can be rebuilt while leaving the rest of the porch intact. Once completed, that area is often stronger than it was before the repair.
