Saving your stonework when others fall short.
Saving your stonework when others fall short.
The Lie of the Quick Fix I remember my first real lesson in forensic masonry. My mentor, an old-timer who had spent forty years on a scaffold, took me to a 1920s schoolhouse. He pointed to a section of the wall where the mortar was falling away in thin, brittle flakes, like a snake shedding […]
The Ghost in the Wall: Why Your Restoration is Failing Before It Starts I once walked up to a 120-year-old Victorian in the historic district where the owner was beaming with pride over a recent repointing job. Within three minutes, I pulled a pocketknife and popped a chunk of mortar right out of the bed […]
The Tragedy of the Modern Quick-Fix I recently walked a site where a stunning 1880s Victorian had been ‘restored’ by a general contractor who thought a bag of Type S Portland cement and a high-speed grinder were the tools of the trade. Within two winters, the face of every single red clay brick was popping […]
The Forensic Scene: When a Hairline Crack Becomes a Structural Grave The facility manager at the downtown textile warehouse told me it was just a hairline crack. He pointed to a jagged line snaking through the soldier course above the loading dock. He wanted a quick patch, a smear of some hardware-store caulk to hide […]
My first mentor, a man who had more limestone dust in his lungs than oxygen, used to tell me that a brick wall is just a giant sponge held together by chemistry. He would take his hawk and a trowel full of mud, strike a joint, and then throw a bucket of water at it. […]
