Is Your Brick Flaking? 7 Mistakes You’re Making with Repairing a Brick Wall
If you’ve walked past your house lately and noticed red dust or thin chips of brick lying on the ground, you aren't just looking at "old house character." You are looking at a process called spalling: or what many homeowners call spawl brick. This flaking is the first sign that your exterior is literally shedding its skin, and if you don't act fast, that "skin" is going to take the rest of the wall down with it.
At Champion Brick Repair & Whitestone Construction, we see this every day across Dallas and Fort Worth. Most homeowners try to ignore it or, worse, they try a DIY fix that ends up accelerating the damage.
Repairing a brick wall isn't as simple as slapping some mortar into a gap. It’s a science of moisture management and material compatibility. Here are the 7 biggest mistakes we see people making when they try to fix flaking or spalling brick, and how the Champion Brick Repair System does it differently.
1. Using Non-Breathable Sealants
This is the number one mistake that kills brick. Homeowners see a spawl brick and think, "I'll just seal it so water can't get in." They go to a big-box store, buy a high-gloss or "wet look" sealer, and coat the wall.
The Problem: Brick is porous. It needs to breathe. When you use a non-breathable sealant, you aren't just keeping water out; you are trapping existing moisture inside the brick. When the Texas temperature drops and that trapped water freezes, it expands. Since the sealant has "locked" the surface, the expanding ice has nowhere to go but to blow the face of the brick right off.
Tip: Always use a breathable, silane-siloxane based sealer that allows vapor transmission while blocking liquid water.
2. Applying the Wrong Type of Mortar
When repairing a brick wall, the mortar you use must be softer than the brick itself. Many modern "ready-mix" bags at the hardware store are Type S mortar, which is incredibly hard and high in portland cement.
The Problem: If your home was built more than a few decades ago, your bricks are likely softer than modern high-fired units. If you put hard mortar into a wall with soft bricks, the wall can’t expand and contract with the heat. The bricks will eventually crush against the hard mortar, leading to more flaking and even missing brick sections.
3. High-Pressure Power Washing
We get it: you want the house to look clean. But taking a 3000-PSI power washer to a wall that is already flaking is like using a blowtorch to light a candle.
The Problem: High pressure strips away the "fire skin": the hard, protective outer layer formed when the brick was fired in the kiln. Once that skin is gone, the soft interior of the brick is exposed to the elements. This leads to rapid deterioration. If you see "sand" on the ground after washing, you’ve just shaved years off your wall's life.
Caution: If you must clean your masonry, use a low-pressure "soft wash" technique with masonry-safe detergents.
4. Neglecting the Root Cause (Drainage)
Spalling doesn't happen for no reason. It’s almost always caused by excessive moisture. If you fix the brick but don't fix the water, you'll be calling us again in six months.
The Problem: Clogged gutters, downspouts that dump water at the base of the wall, or soil that slopes toward the foundation are the real enemies. This causes "rising damp," where the brick sucks up water like a sponge.
Champion Tip: Before we start repairing a brick wall, we look at the drainage. If the bricks are constantly saturated, no repair in the world will hold permanently.
5. Using the Wrong Brick for Replacement
Sometimes a brick is too far gone and needs to be replaced. This is where we see the "patchwork quilt" look.
The Problem: Homeowners often grab whatever brick is available at the store. Not only does it look terrible, but using a brick with a different absorption rate than the surrounding units can cause structural stress.
Our team specializes in missing brick replacement. We don’t just find something "close." We use our Champion Brick Repair System to source bricks that match the size, texture, and density of your original masonry. Whether you need brick repair in Southlake or brick repair in Plano, we make sure the repair is invisible.
6. Ignoring Early Signs of Damage
"It's just one or two flakes," people tell us. "I'll wait until it gets worse."
The Problem: Spalling is like a cancer for your house. Once the face of one brick is gone, it allows water to sit on the ledge of the brick below it. This creates a "stair-step" effect of damage that can quickly turn a $500 maintenance job into a $5,000 structural nightmare.
Importance of fixing flaking/spalling before it spreads: When you catch it early, we can often treat the bricks or replace just a few. If you wait, you might end up with a collapsed outer wythe of masonry.
7. Applying Surface Patches as Quick Fixes
You might be tempted to buy a tube of "brick caulk" or a bucket of patch material to "paint" over the flaking areas.
The Problem: These materials have different expansion rates than real clay. They will eventually peel off, often taking even more of the original brick face with them. This is a cosmetic "band-aid" that masks a structural issue.
The Champion Brick Repair System
We don’t believe in "patching." We believe in restoration. Our Champion Brick Repair System is a comprehensive approach to masonry health. We analyze the mortar strength, identify the source of the moisture, and perform surgical missing brick replacement and tuck-pointing.
Whether you have cracks in your brick and mortar or your brick mailbox is falling apart, we treat every job with the same level of precision.
Why Choose Us?
Champion Brick Repair & Whitestone Construction are BBB Accredited Businesses. This is our commitment to the BBB Code of Business Practices and to you, the homeowner. We take pride in our work, and it shows. Click for review to see what your neighbors in DFW are saying about our award-winning service.
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Don't let a few flakes turn into a major collapse. We make it incredibly easy to find out exactly what your repair will cost without the hassle of a high-pressure sales pitch.
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Whether you need brick repair in Irving, Garland, or Denton, we are ready to help you save your home’s value.
Champion Brick Repair & Whitestone Construction General Masonry & Insurance-Backed Repairs 📞 817-900-6324 🌐 www.championbrickrepair.com
Champion Brick Repair is a division of Whitestone Construction, Hamilton, Texas, and is not affiliated with any other companies using similar names.
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