For a house I currently have being built, I saw that my slab and/or the stucco finish on it extends past the brick wall such that it makes a lip at the back wall of the house as well as the two sides. On the front of the house the brick is flush with the slab. Could water get on this lip and go into the house through the weep holes?



Below, on parts of the interface between brick and slab, the stucco impedes part of the weep holes. Is this a concern for water drainage out of the weep holes?





Overall, are these issues serious enough to really push the builder to fix?

is that stucco or just a slurry/underpinning?

ktownag08 said:

---

Not sure what's going on, but I'd have my builder clean that up.

---

You mean straighten it?

AgRyan04 said:

---

is that stucco or just a slurry/underpinning?

---

It's whatever they put on the exposed concrete slab to make it look nice. I thought it was stucco. Not sure what underpinning means.

Yes, if it's just to make the slab look nice it shouldn't be on the brick making it look crappy.

I believe it is mostly an aesthetic issue. You could ask the builder to have the foundation company chip the slab flush with the brick and re-plaster.

The issue is a brick ledge,
the typical detail is that its height/level is at least 1.5" below Finish Slab or interior height/level, so that The Wet will never rise into the house and the "raincoat" between wall & brick backsides will flow/drip down to ledge & out the weep holes.

The oddity of brick NOT being flush with slab face at first might suggest
a) they used a thinner brick in those areas
b) they didn't provide as much air/void space rear of brick
BUT me thinks
c) someone decided to use 2x4 studs when 2x6 were on Plans and instead of everything shrinking 2", pushing from inside out, spec.house/novices pushed the assembly from outside in .... quite RARE. My pick.
d) conc.labor did not provide a flat smooth surface at outboard edge to suit brick mason, who found what he needed more recessed VERY ODD and of course when the poor slurry makeup also didn't turn out flat .... sigh

Of course, the 3rd grader wavy slurry that was to make amends was botched - a first glance anyway - so here we are.

I would love to be mistaken and learn from soneone having novel tricks in their bag for my use in case someone else out there needs help and fears a tear-down, re-do threat.

Was this a spec.house buy or custom.build and did it have a licensed Architect that can be found to help/explain?
https://indreg.tbae.texas.gov/Reports/IndividualSearch


There's no real fix to this and only a Realtor can advise your resale dings ahead.
At best, one might imagine a high-cost? "fix" where a power chisel might eliminate/champher @ 45d all that brick ledge surplus from edge of brick down foundation face, taking the slurry with it.

This is a spec home with a large national builder. So your thoughts are that the ledge is a concern for water entering the weep holes? What is your background?

tgivaughn is spot on. You said front of house is flush. Hopefully, the brick is sitting on a brick lug and not directly on slab or you will have water issues.

Back of house should be flag too, I think. Something isn't right. Get an independent contractor or inspector to look.

Water cannot get in. The brick is sitting on a brick ledge that is an inch or so lower than the sole plates.

Kenneth_2003 said:

---

Water cannot get in. The brick is sitting on a brick ledge that is an inch or so lower than the sole plates.

---

This is what I was hoping to hear, but how can I be reassured that this is true?

Here is a pic of one side of the house before the brick was put on. You can see brick lugs stepping down along the side. The weep holes near the middle/back of the house just have slab behind them. However, the part I'm more concerned about (circled in red below) is where the ledge is about the same level with the floor. How can I know that there is no way for water to get in there if the stucco finish/brick lug extends past the brick?



Should I trust it looks like this around the whole house behind the brick?

National Builder is a worry since supervison can be less = profits to the stockholders
that said, this is a typical step down brick ledge for slopes on sites
and facts best arrived at by removing some of the raincoat to see/measure difference between finish slab & finish brick pocket ... betting 1-inch+ from the photo since the ledge turns the corner IMHO

Investigate, photo then resubmit ... praying all is A-OK, pal
then only buy local with architect stamp/referral in future & sleep better

If you can't see the bottom of the weep hole, the concrete/cement needs to be removed so that the holes will drain. This can easily be done with a cheap drill and a masonry bit and maybe an hour of time. Tell the builder to open up the weep holes all the way down to the (real) foundation so that they will drain properly.