Are gaps in my brick mortar weep holes?
Intentional weep holes are easily confused with damaged mortar when people are trying to fill exterior cracks. You can identify genuine deterioration if the mortar has turned to sand, cracked around windows, or left gaps large enough to let daylight shine inside through interior skirting boards.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Asking online communities for identification and adviceDid this help you?
- 2Filling in cracks in the mortarDid this help you?
- 3Relying on the letting agent's claim that there are no structural concerns.Did this help you?
- 4Planning to get the masonry professionally repaired.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Going around the exterior of my house filling in cracks in the mortar and noticed these gaps. Are these weep holes?”source ↗
“I’m renting it’s how It was when I moved in and the mortar is like sand and is missing around all of the windows and they’re all cracked around.”source ↗
“some places where the mortar is missing you can see the light shine in the house through the skirting boards.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Who to call for exterior stucco cracking near roof and foundation?
- 28Should I use foam or caulk to seal gaps in exterior walls?
- 2Why is my exterior brick wall cracking from foundation shifting?
- 2How to care for and revitalize old stamped concrete when moving in
- 4Why is this wall discolored if it is not wet?
- 2How to tell what mysterious stains or spots on clothes actually are