split face block

[90limited]

I am building a 24x36 and was doing the front in brick to match house (HOA rules) and vinyl on the other three sides... I was talking with contractor about bricking the 36' wall that will be seen from the house ($1500 adder) and he mentioned using split face block.

The idea would be to have about 2' of split face block on the three sides that are getting vinyl. It would dress up the exterior, help address the 2' fall away in the lot and make the first part of the wall inside concrete vs drywall. Thought this would be better for washing cars and general cleanup and spills vs drywall... Thoughts?

 

[rburke65]

The split face block sounds like a lot of "wins" for $1500! IMO.

 

[finn]

I've got 3 courses of split face on my slab below the wall studs. Looks good outside & is easy to keep neat inside in a working shop.

 

[Garage Dog]

It is so easy to spend other people's money... however, I would agree that the split face block gives you multiple benefits worth you adder of $1,500.

Just an opinion...

 

[NUTTSGT]

I believe it will look nice with the split face block. I put up a small section on it on the house beside the garage.

 

[90limited]

Thanks for the input... the $1500 was for one 36x9 wall of brick. Just got a firm price of $800 for two rows of split face on the three sides that are not brick... I told him to do it.

 

[brickG-man]

You could go Brick outside with Block inside full height all the way around to match the house like I did on mine!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rxyoksvoqjzbrfg/2012-11-21 11.04.58.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0gc2k0xe2nvhwdw/2012-11-21 11.04.38.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bzcauoo7zgmiwcw/2012-10-29 10.33.28.jpg

 

[90limited]

BrickG -- very nice. Really like the keystone and vertical brick above the garage doors... I would like to go all brick, but the money I am saving by putting vinyl on three sides will pay for a 4 post lift...

 

[brickG-man]

BrickG -- very nice. Really like the keystone and vertical brick above the garage doors... I would like to go all brick, but the money I am saving by putting vinyl on three sides will pay for a 4 post lift...

That makes sense. I had an advantage because I'm a Bricklayer so I was able to build the garage for the cost of materials. The only thing that I paid someone to do was the overhead doors installation. I built my garage 27 years ago so my kids were little and I was on a budget too. I wish that I had the room for a lift but my Local codes were very limiting in height.

By the way, the concept of going with 24" (3 courses) of split face block is a good idea. I would have the builder use extra long anchor bolts (maybe 24") for the bottom framing plate so the bolts aren't just in the top course. I would also ask him to fill the cores in which the anchor bolts will be installed with grout instead of mortar. Mortar has excellent characteristics when used for bonding masonry units but it's structural strength in a mass for holding anchor bolts in the core of a concrete block are not as good as grout or concrete. The cost for that would be minimal.

 

[Thumper68]

I think it's a great idea, and will give a great look as well.

My last house was built by a mason and was all block, his son inhereted the house and built the garage in the 60's once again all block but he went cheap and used left overs from his jobs, so the 30x24 2 stall had every kind of block, split face, stone face, faceted, and flat. On top of the different faces they were also different dimentions, 6x16 to 12x16 all faced to the outside so the interior was covered by 100's of nitches. Amazingly the outside looked good with all the different textures.

 

[brickG-man]

I think it's a great idea, and will give a great look as well.

My last house was built by a mason and was all block, his son inhereted the house and built the garage in the 60's once again all block but he went cheap and used left overs from his jobs, so the 30x24 2 stall had every kind of block, split face, stone face, faceted, and flat. On top of the different faces they were also different dimentions, 6x16 to 12x16 all faced to the outside so the interior was covered by 100's of nitches. Amazingly the outside looked good with all the different textures.

That IS cheap!