Some bricks on the side of my house are flaking and chipping. What causes brick to peel like that?
Answer
What you’re describing is usually what we call brick spalling. We repair that pretty regularly in Bloomfield Hills due to the age of the homes in that area.
What happens is moisture gets into the brick over time. Once that moisture gets in there, the brick face starts to weaken. Then when temperatures go up and down through the seasons, the outer surface of the brick can start to crack, chip, or peel.
A lot of homeowners assume it’s just cosmetic, but once the face of the brick starts breaking down, the brick itself can lose strength. Most of the time the proper fix is to remove the damaged bricks and replace them with new ones that match the wall as closely as possible so everything blends back in.
