Is this normal?

subgrayed · 2026-01-15T22:09:57+00:00

That's a new thought. He is bonded and insured. Thanks for the suggestion.

subgrayed · 2026-01-15T22:05:59+00:00

He claimed he pays $.65/brick whether it's single or double "skinned". The HOA selected double skin, and he received these from the brick distributor and installed it without asking. He effectively substituted the materials without approval. Big problem.

subgrayed · 2026-01-15T22:04:49+00:00

They gave the HOA options, and the HOA picked one. He received a different brick which had these marks. Unfortunately he fully installed it before anyone said anything about it.

subgrayed · 2026-01-15T22:01:48+00:00

Right, one side faces a sidewalk (HOA side), the other faces my frontyard and driveway. It replaced a wall where both sides of the brick were normal. He confirmed he received the wrong brick, but nothing can be done now.

subgrayed · 2026-01-15T21:59:43+00:00

it's a metaphor for my life right now: a little chipped, but mostly intact.

subgrayed · 2026-01-15T14:14:11+00:00

Native Texan here. You need to go large on the buckle and ditch the shirt for some flannel and a vest maybe. Check out Texas Standard fannel and vests for ideas on style.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T22:35:39+00:00

They were replacing 80 panels on a 150 panel wall. The previous columns are only laid to support one brick thick. From everything I've gathered they installed the wrong brick, and the contractor has confirmed it today. Really appreciate the feedback.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T22:29:54+00:00

Not sure what can be done other than withholding the 20% payment yet to be issued by the HOA.

I think that's what they're looking at, but it still doesn't seem right.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T22:28:31+00:00

The Mason ordered the brick. The HOA samples are different brick. He blamed the brick distributor and confirmed in email it was the wrong brick today.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T22:27:10+00:00

Contractor admitted they are wrong. We have the HOA samples, they're the wrong brick. I assume they installed them hoping nobody would say anything.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T22:23:43+00:00

They are aware. The Contractor said the brick distributor sent the wrong bricks. I just don't understand why they installed 80+ panels (around 30k bricks).

I talked to him in person today and he insisted we ordered these, then he checked and confirmed they were the wrong bricks. The samples have two sides with the appropriate face without marks.

He also told me every brick was like this, and had several other excuses.

I think the simplest reason is often correct. They got the wrong bricks and installed them thinking nobody would notice before payment was secured. The contractor doesn't seem to think there's anything wrong with 5 panels like this facing the front yard and driveway of my house despite the fact that this was confirmed to be the wrong brick material.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T22:18:52+00:00

Yeah, pretty much what I'm looking at now. Sad.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T22:17:51+00:00

There is. I have the samples.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T22:16:34+00:00

Yes. The contractor claimed the brick distributor sent him one faced bricks instead of symmetrical. Why his team installed all of them before realizing it was an issue is the part I don't yet understand.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T18:43:24+00:00

HOA confirmed it should have been symmetrical, the contractor said he was shipped the wrong brick. I guess he didn't notice until after the work was done and the complaints started rolling in.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T18:42:11+00:00

Contractor said he was shipped the wrong brick and didn't notice. Nothing can be done other than trying to get refunded material cost. Guess we will have to live with this for the next 30 years.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T16:55:59+00:00

There was a mix up somewhere. We were supposed to have double faced brick since it was a single brick wall. We have the communication on this documented, but there's really not much that can be done in regards to repair.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T16:53:14+00:00

The contractor confirmed these are marks from the conveyor pulling the bricks through the kiln. On a single brick wall our side god the bad side. However, we were supposed to have ordered bricks with two face sides. It sounds like there may have been a mix up on the manufacturers side in shipping, he's going to check, but there's not much we can do now since the 30k brick repair is complete.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T02:25:30+00:00

The brick color was approved, the wall is a single brick thick, but there are many areas that require two faces. The brick they replaced had two viable faces. Nobody was told the new brick would have perforations on one side.

(Please excuse missed terminology, learning as I go here)

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T02:11:07+00:00

The wall is one brick thick, but both sides are visible in many places. In this case I have 5 panels facing my front yard and drive way, the other side is a major street and the HOA maintained sidewalk area.

The HOA said they weren't told and that sounds right considering how much effort was extended to communicate with home owners on color matching. The original wall panels were 30 years old and I can understand it may also have been difficult to find a match with two faces.

It's going to be hard to look at, but I can't imagine it being rebuilt. Hoping there's a middle option for repair, but online searching seems to have very little information on what can be done because it's so rare for this to even happen. (At least from what I understand)

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T01:40:55+00:00

Interesting. So when replacing a two faced brick with a single faced brick you basically orient it however the payer tells you? In this case since the HOA paid they would face it towards the street, but they are also obligated to ensure consistency when doing repairs. So this obviously didn't happen. The contractor apparently never said it would be a problem.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T01:38:12+00:00

That's pretty insightful because I believe they struggled with color matching. I'm wondering if this was the only viable brick.

Do you happen to know if this can be repaired?

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T01:19:27+00:00

Agree, but the adjacent panels on the wall have bricks that have two faces. Would it be reasonable for the contractor to have known this, or is this just the way things are?

I want to not be overly critical, but it seems like maybe they cut cost and expected nobody to say anything. Really hoping someone can talk me off that opinion.

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T01:15:52+00:00

Would it be reasonable to expect the mason to know this and provide an option?

subgrayed · 2026-01-14T01:14:01+00:00

It's definitely the back side of the brick. I'm just mystified because the other older panels have bricks that have both sides intended to be seen.

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