Any concerns with this application of Thin Brick over DensGlas over steel studs in the SouthEast US?
How are you attaching the thin brick to the DensGlass? In the southwest, we scratch & brown with plaster, and stick the brick on the brown coat. We use 1/2" plywood or DensGlass behind the stucco depending on the fire rating or structural (sheer) requirments, and sometimes both.
I recall a thin brick veneer at a project in Toledo where children discovered that if they threw a baseball at the wall, the thin brick would pop off. If your building is going to be exposed to such exuberance you may want to have a sample panel to challenge with your fastball.
Per Richard’s comment, DensGlass alone may have too much “give” spanning between the studs allowing a stiff veneer brick to pop off.
Nathan mentions plywood as a stiffer backing. Another option is cementitous backer boards over the DensGlass.
Dens-glass isn’t approved by GP for “adhered” installations. If you want to install the thin brick over dens-glass I recommend, from inside out: Dens-glass, weather barrier (similar to Grace permabarrier), lath with paper backing, scratch/brown coat, than thin set the mortar to the brown coat.
Yes, Robin’s post is much more specific and is the system I was inferring. I was being overly generic.
As for backing…it depends on the project and the developer’s willingness to invest in durablity. On the low end, I have seen thin brick applied over lath/stucco only, without any other backing between 16" OC studs in some housing applications. The weight and profile of the brick is a factor also, and how it’s capped (such as with a full brick soldier course or precast or similar)
Irrespective of the backing, it is critical to specify that the thin brick be fully back-buttered when installed. Many, if not most, of the thin brick delamination failures I have seen are due to insufficient mortar adhesion due to notched trowel application, air bubbles, and voids in the mortar.
panelized thin brick product that makes the envelope a rain screen - STONEL
in this system its glued to a metal framework and only “hung” in the field.
Have not used it yet.