According to metallurgist Jack Harris, "Oxidation is usually accompanied by a net expansion so that when it occurs in a confined space stresses are generated in the metal component itself or in any surrounding medium such as stone or cement.
Unexpectedly, the mild steel fasteners failed in real world use much more quickly than anticipated, leading to a return to use of wrought iron in certain applications where length of service was important.
Expansive rusting of iron and steel bolts and reinforcements affected the structural integrity of the copper horse sculptures, which were relocated indoors and replaced with replicas.
[4] In the United States, rusting of iron pegs inserted into holes in the stone entrance stair in order to support handrails resulted in cracking of the steps at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Notre Dame, Indiana.
[5] Oxide jacking damaged the terra cotta cornice on the Land Title Building in Philadelphia, designed in 1897 and expanded in 1902 by pioneer skyscraper architect Daniel Burnham.
[6] Flooding in 2007 damaged the modernist Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois, designed in 1945 by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and now owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Oxide jacking caused widespread damage to concrete council houses built in the United Kingdom in the post World War II era.