Mike Lamb Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 90 yr old bldg. These soldiers with open mortar are for cavity wall venting? They were sporadic but mostly located near kitchen areas. There were also many along the unfinished basement wall areas. Click to Enlarge 67.55 KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 Sometimes they were for venting the old kitchen stoves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kibbel Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 The bond pattern doesn't indicate it to be cavity wall construction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Raymond Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 They dumped the kitchen exhaust into the withe space? Yuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 They dumped the kitchen exhaust into the withe space? Yuck. Yup. It's triple or quad wythe. Inner wythe material was left out in a haphazard pattern to provide a path out. Some of them were for decorative gas fireplaces; weird cavity vents. I thought it was a Chicago thing. Never seen it elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 That's double-wythe construction, no? OT - OF!!! M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 Usually triple, solid. Soft brick, soft (K or L) mortar. Sometimes double, no cavity, solid. Depends on how high up the wall it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lamb Posted November 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 At least 3 wythe. I'm just guessing at cavity walls. The same vents near the basement ceiling level throws me. Many kitchen areas skipped this detail as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 Never seen a cavity wall down here before. One question: Where a cavity wall exists, are both sides of the cavity load bearing? Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 Nope. At least, not in Chicago. The inner wythe is the load bearing component; the outer wythe is, essentially, brick veneer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 Not one of your better shots, Mike. Must have been a narrow alley. [] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lamb Posted November 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 Not one of your better shots, Mike. Must have been a narrow alley. [] It was about a 6' gangway between properties which is wide for Chicago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted November 22, 2012 Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 At least 3 wythe. I'm just guessing at cavity walls. The same vents near the basement ceiling level throws me. Many kitchen areas skipped this detail as well. After >20 years trying to find uniformity in their use, I cannot. There is no apparent consistent use anywhere in the city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted November 23, 2012 Report Share Posted November 23, 2012 We've got similar ones in Denver. They always seem to come in pairs at about the lower and upper ends of the upper cabinets. I've always assumed they were for creating a 'cool' cabinet in the days before refrigeration was common. I say "Seal them up". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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