# Why Is My Brick Wall Bulging? > A bulging brick wall usually means failed ties or header courses, layers that have separated, or water damage. Learn the causes and how to have it evaluated. URL: https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/bulging-brick-wall/ A brick wall bulges when its outer layer loses its connection to what is behind it. On a solid wall that usually means broken or missing header courses and separated wythes; on veneer or cavity walls, rusted or missing ties. Water damage, framing movement and foundation movement can also push a face out. It is a red-flag condition. A bulging brick wall needs an evaluation before anyone prices a repair, and it needs people kept out from under it in the meantime. [True Course Masonry Newark](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/) carries out tie repairs and controlled rebuilds of bulging masonry across Newark and Essex County to an engineer's scope where needed, with the work done by licensed and insured contractors. This guide explains what holds a brick face in place, how each connection fails, and what the repair options look like. The [masonry repair](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/masonry-repair/) page covers the wider service. **Key takeaways** - A bulge means a connection has failed: header courses, metal ties, or the wall's tie to floors and roof. - Repointing does not pull a bulge back and does not reconnect the layers. - Water is behind most bulges: it rusts ties, softens mortar between wythes and freezes in the gaps. - Leaning walls and chimneys are related problems that also need evaluation. - Keep people clear below. Do not push on, probe or climb to a bulging wall. ## How brick walls stay flat A brick wall is flat because it is tied, not because brick is stiff on its own. A single wythe of brick, one brick thick, is slender for its height and will bow if nothing holds it. What holds it depends on how it was built: - **Solid multi-wythe walls** use header bricks, laid end-out, that reach from the face wythe into the one behind. A header course every several rows locks the layers together so they act as one thick wall. - **Brick veneer and cavity walls** have one outer wythe standing in front of a wood, block or brick backup, connected by metal ties set in the mortar joints and fixed to the backup. - **Every wall** also relies on its connection to the floors and roof, which brace it at each level. When any of these fails over a large enough area, the face is free to move outward. ## Failed wall ties and header courses **Header courses in solid walls.** Headers can break from settlement, expansion or freezing, and they lose their grip when the mortar collar between the wythes washes out or softens. Some older walls also had fewer real headers than they appear to: builders sometimes used half bricks, called snapped or false headers, that look like headers on the face but do not reach into the wythe behind. Once enough headers fail, the outer wythe behaves like a separate thin wall and can peel away. A bulge on a solid wall often runs between floor levels, where the face is braced least. **Metal ties in veneer and cavity walls.** Veneer is supposed to be held to its backup by ties at regular spacing. The Brick Industry Association's Technical Note 44B covers how those ties are designed. Ties rust when water sits in the cavity, especially where flashing has failed or weeps are blocked, and older galvanized ties can corrode through. Ties can also be missing, too widely spaced, never embedded in the mortar, or fixed to backup that has rotted. Inadequate ties are a direct route to veneer instability: the brick stays up only by its own weight and friction, and wind, freezing and thermal movement gradually push it out of plane. Homeowners report bowed outer walls on century-old houses and ask whether the ties are failing; only opening a small area, or an engineer's investigation, can answer that. > No published data counts how many Newark houses are solid masonry and how many are veneer. Identifying which you have is the first step of any evaluation, because the repair is different for each. ## Water and other causes Water drives most bulges. In a solid wall it washes out the mortar between wythes and freezes in any gap that opens, prying the layers further apart each winter; NOAA normals put Newark at about 80 days a year with a low at or below freezing. In a veneer wall it rusts the ties. Concentrated water from a failed coping, parapet, gutter or roof edge is a common starting point, which is why bulges often sit just below the top of a wall or beneath a roof line. [Parapet wall repair](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/parapet-repair/) covers the tops of walls. Other causes include: - floor joists or roof framing that has pulled away from the wall, or roof thrust pushing the top outward - a rusting steel lintel or embedded steel jacking brick out of plane, as the [cracks above windows guide](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/cracks-above-windows-brick/) explains - foundation movement below the wall - long-term expansion of brick with no movement joints, which can push a panel outward where it is restrained ## Leaning walls and chimneys A lean is a whole wall or stack out of plumb, rather than a local bow. Leaning garden walls, parapets and chimneys share the same root questions: has the base moved, has the masonry lost section on one side, or has the wall lost its connection to the building? Chimneys lean most often, because they stand exposed on every side and are frequently wetter on the side that faces the weather; mortar on that side erodes and swells with frozen moisture, and the stack tips toward it. A leaning chimney is a falling hazard over a roof, a walkway or a neighbor's house. The [chimney rebuild or repoint guide](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/chimney-rebuild-or-repoint/) and [chimney rebuilding](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/chimney-rebuild/) page cover that decision. Retaining walls that lean are a separate trade and are not offered here. ## What to do now **Treat it as urgent and keep people clear if:** - the bulge is above a sidewalk, entrance, driveway or neighboring property - bricks are cracked, loose or falling from the bulged area - the bulge has visibly grown, or cracks around it are widening - a chimney or parapet is leaning **Still needs an evaluation, but can be scheduled, if:** - the bow is small, low on the wall and unchanged over several months - no units are loose and nothing below is at risk Either way, do not lean a ladder on it, push on it or open it up to look. The [engineer or mason guide](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/when-a-masonry-crack-needs-an-engineer/) explains who to call first, and the [stair-step cracks guide](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/stair-step-cracks-in-brick/) explains how to monitor cracks that often come with a bulge. ## How bulges are repaired The repair depends on the wall type, how far it has moved, whether it is still moving and whether the brick is sound. - **Retrofit anchors or helical ties.** Drilled through the face into the backup and set without taking the wall down. They suit modest, stable bows where the backup can hold an anchor. - **Controlled take-down and rebuild.** The bulged section is shored as needed, taken down in a planned sequence, the backup and connections are repaired, and the wall is relaid with new ties or headers, reusing sound brick and matching replacements as on the [brick repair](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/brick-repair/) page. It suits large, active or water-damaged bulges. - **Reconnection to framing.** Anchors that tie the wall to floor and roof framing where that connection has failed. - **Fixing the water.** Copings, flashing, gutters and weeps, so the repair is not undone. A rebuild is reconstruction affecting structural safety, so a construction permit is the default under the state Uniform Construction Code. Check with the Newark construction office. Hidden conditions are the main cost unknown; national cost guides put brick veneer repair at about $10 to $24 per square foot before flashing or tie work, which is a starting national figure, not a quote. The [masonry repair cost guide](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/masonry-repair-cost-newark/) explains what moves it. ## A next step From the ground, sight along the wall from one corner and photograph the bulge in raking light, then mark the date. Note what is directly above it: a gutter, coping, chimney or roof edge. Keep the area below clear, and send the photos through the [contact page](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/contact/) so the first look starts with the right questions. Street-facing work in a Newark historic district can need Landmarks and Historic Preservation Commission review, which the [historic masonry restoration](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/historic-masonry-restoration/) page explains. ## Frequently asked questions ### My brick wall bows out an inch or two. How serious is that? Any measurable bulge is a red flag that needs an evaluation, because it means the outer brick has lost some of its connection to the wall behind it. How serious it is depends on whether it is still moving, how high it is, what the wall carries and what is below it. A small, stable bow low on a wall is a different risk from a growing bulge over a sidewalk. Keep people clear of the area below and have a structural engineer or experienced mason look at it before any repair is priced. ### Can a bulging brick wall be pinned back instead of rebuilt? Sometimes. Where the brick is still sound and the bulge is modest, retrofit anchors or helical ties drilled through the face into the backup can restore the connection without taking the wall down. They do not pull a wall back into line, though, and they need a sound backup to anchor into. Large, active or water-damaged bulges usually need a controlled take-down and rebuild with new ties. An engineer typically decides which fits. ### Why did my bulge show up after the house was repointed? Repointing does not cause bulges, but it can reveal or speed them up. Cutting out joints on a wall whose wythes have already separated removes some of what was holding the face in place, and a hard new mortar on a soft old wall can change how the face takes up moisture and movement. It is also common for a bulge to be noticed only when someone looks closely at the wall during the job.