Why would the mortar on one side of a house looking like it is squishing out?

Question

My husband and I are looking at a home tonight. We did a drive by the other day and one side of the house is normal, but the other side it looks like when the bricks were placed and the mortar squished out the sides it was never scraped off. IS THIS NORMAL? Could there be a foundation problem? house was built in 1977

Answer 1

No, this type of mortar look is called "slathered".  It is just a look that some people use to create a different look.

Answer 2

The person probably got drunk while doing the scraping and got lazy.  There is many styles.  He/ she probably forgot til it's dry....too late.

Answer 3

Mortar only 'squishes' when it is wet.  If that mortar looks like it has been squeezed out, it was done when wet...and left to dry like that.  That IS one style of laying brick.  The question to ask about, is if that is original work, or something done later?

Foundation problems will show up on a brick wall as cracks in the mortar, and possibly even some broken bricks.

Really old mortar can get crumbly, and fall out.  Repairing it is called 'tuckpointing'.  The old stuff is ground, or dug out, from between the bricks, to a certain depth, and new mortar is applied.  It's very possible, that this is what has been done to this one side of the home... and they didnt bother to match the style of the rest of the home.  I'd call that poor workmanship, hehehe, but its a 'cosmetic' issue, not structural.

Look for cracks in the foundation as you walk around the exterior.  If it has a basement, look for cracks in the basement walls.  Those would be signs of structural problems.  If this is a 'casual look', just keep your eyes open for those types of things... if you get serious about purchasing this home, be sure to have it inspected before signing anything.

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