Hi, I was considering buying a house but I noticed something odd about the bricks. The house is 27 years old and it is a wood frame house with the outer shell made of bricks (i.e. it is not a double or triple brick wall). The bricks appear to be very soft. If I brush my finger along the brick, sand like particles visibly fall off. The agent tells me that these bricks are supposed to be like this – which seems hard to believe. I am surprised that the weather has not already worn them down more. Has anybody heard of anything like this? Is there a way to protect them? (I will get a house inspection done if I decide to pursue the house.) Thanks for any info Steve

Something seems not quite right, after re-pointing 2 of 4 brick piers holdng up my front porch. The mortar is gritty & crumbly; although, I thought I had taken care to use the proper proportion 3:1 (sand:mortar). The sand was bagged from a reputable supplier, and I had made sure to tell them what the sand was going to be used with; i.e., colored mortar mix for re-pointing. Was the sand grit too large, or was the proportion incorrect? Thanks, Erik