SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a44128093/what-caused-iowa-apartment-collapse/
The exterior center section of a 100-year-old, six-story building in Davenport, Iowa collapsed on May 29, leaving its apartment interiors exposed to the elements and three people dead. In its previous life, the Renaissance Revival-style brick-and-steel structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
[...] Some residents said they had been experiencing water damage, and several tenants were afraid of the building collapsing. One resident said her bathroom caved in last December.
[...] Inspectors and a private-sector structural engineer discovered on May 23 that the brick façade, painted scarlet red in recent years, was separated from the interior wall and appeared "ready to fall imminently," according to a CNN article about the report. The interior wall was losing stability and causing deformation. A beam possibly bearing down on the affected wall needed a steel column for extra support, the structural engineer recommended. City inspectors took photos on May 25 showing a void between the façade and interior wall; the gap contained crumbled bricks.
Bricks were falling off the building's facade as early as August 2020, so the sidewalk around this area was closed, according to an analysis by The Architect's Newspaper.
"The collapsed wall is the only wall that was painted, and while the brick was clearly damaged prior to this painting, many types of paint that are not breathable can trap moisture in brick," the newspaper reported.
Moisture normally passes through a building's walls. Bricks are like sponges; their porous structure is great at both absorbing water and drying out completely. However, if moisture beneath the brick surface is unable to evaporate—say, because it hits a layer of paint—then the water builds up. Eventually, water erodes brick over a period of years. "Painting over brick is essentially a death sentence for brick," according to McGill Restoration, a repair and restoration company based in Nebraska.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2023, @04:44PM (9 children)
One of the basics taught in a heat and vent (HVAC) course for architects is moisture control.
For buildings that will be heated, the vapor barrier goes near the inside of the wall, to keep human-generated moisture out of the outer wall cavity (or insulation) where it can freeze in winter.
For brick walls, the ancients knew about flashing and other details to keep the inside of the brick dry... but clearly this didn't get passed down to whoever painted the outside of the wall in tfa.
(Score: 4, Informative) by epitaxial on Tuesday June 13 2023, @04:59PM
The building was owned by a slum lord and was fined $300. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/demolition-partially-collapsed-iowa-building-begins-owner-pleads-guilt-rcna88854 [nbcnews.com]
There was a construction company who refused to even let his guys near the building and yet nobody did anything to evacuate residents.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2023, @05:33PM (4 children)
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Tuesday June 13 2023, @05:53PM (1 child)
I'm thinking that there's more to it than "painting brick bad". I've seen row-houses in DC with painted brick that look like they've been that way for decades and they aren't suffering. I've also seen unpainted brick row-houses falling apart. It probably comes down to the quality and/or porosity of the brick. The upscale Capitol Hill buildings are also relatively small, and were probably made with the best bricks. The other buildings were probably build cheaply and thrown together in a hurry by less experienced masons using inferior mortar.
A quick googling got me this explanation of brick porosity. [rsnewrefractory.com]
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 4, Informative) by istartedi on Tuesday June 13 2023, @06:19PM
This looks like a more relevant explanation. [houselogic.com], and helps explain why the stately old rows were painted--there's a good chance they were built earlier in the 19th century! And yes, it was probably a different kind of paint, or plaster that still "breathes".
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 13 2023, @06:36PM (1 child)
Plaster and plaster board are porous, and they will breathe - unless of course, the surfaces are treated with something to stop the breathing. Besides which, plaster is generally on the inside, rather than on the outside. So even if the plaster board is painted, making it non-porous, the moisture won't be trapped in the brick. Stopping moisture inside from wicking into the brick would be considered a 'good thing', up to the point where moisture trapped inside the structure develops mold and mildew.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2023, @07:31PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cement_render [wikipedia.org]
https://www.cementaustralia.com.au/diy/how-render-brick-wall [cementaustralia.com.au]
https://www.handymanmagazine.co.nz/build-and-render-brick-wall [handymanmagazine.co.nz]
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday June 14 2023, @09:29AM (2 children)
Watch who you call ancient, you snotty-nosed kid. We knew about putting DPCs below bricks and similar when you were still a glint in the milkman's eye.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 14 2023, @12:29PM (1 child)
No disrespect intended. By ancients, I meant something like this, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_brick [wikipedia.org] and similar by other cultures.
I'm old enough to remember milk delivery...
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday June 14 2023, @01:34PM
Yeah, I knew what you meant :-). Although since the Romans used lead for flashing and pipes I'm not sure whether that counts as a good thing or not...