Our brick home is 140 yrs old and has some issues. On 2 of the corners several brick have cracked as well as mortar needs repair/replacing. That means some brick will need to be replaced as well as some mortar repair.

I talked with someone tonight who will be coming over tomorrow to give an estimate. However, from what he said, he suggests grinding out all courses and repointing all. Does this seem right? I thought, especially on "old" buildings that is was recommended that only to fix what needed fixing and to not work on other areas. Or do I have it wrong?

Our home is not on the historical registry, but would be eligible. In fact we are considering applying for a historical tax credit toward repairs. From what I read on their web site, they recommend only repairing what needs repairing.

Does anyone have any insights or suggestions?
Marylu

There may be other publications in this series that deal with brick, too. Scroll to bottom of page and click on Presevation Briefs for a complete list.

You are correct in thinking that less is more when doing repairs on old buildings and it's a rare tradesman who really knows how to handle them.

I own a wood framed building so I've no opinion, but I know from doing repairs on my chimney that the type of mortar and the style of the application are crucial to a good job.

HTH,

Molly

Across the alley from me is brick wall that is a perfect example of how horrible it looks. The City caught the mason doing it & made him stop, but the damage was irreversible. I'll get a photo tomorrow when it's daylight.

You should also be cognizant of the proper type of mortar to be used & I believe that too is covered in the above pamphlet.

However, we live in a small town in a rural area of the state. Have not been having much luck finding anyone who does this type of work. Have sent off a few emails to companies that I could find on the web in our state, but not sure if they would consider our home due to distance. Also not sure if we could afford them! Will see if I get responses from them.

Does anyone know of someone or a company who does this in the area of southern/southwestern Wisconsin?
Marylu

Do that search, and see what you find.

I absolutely agree to get someone to do your work who knows old brick and mortar. The masons who only work with new will most likely mess your house up.

I've gotten other vendors through their website and forum recommendations and they've always been right on.

An addition was taken down & rebuilt. If this wasn't bad enough, the owner had the mason grind & repoint the adjoining wall, shown here.

A closeup

Another house where the wall was ground & repointed. Not obvious much, is it? Thankfully, they didn't destroy the face brick.

And the photos that antiquesilver posted are common sights around Chicago...unfortunately.

antiquesilver...those pictures look terrible! oh the poor homeowners!

kec01...that would be great if you would think to ask if Jack had any recommendations! I have been in touch with someone named Bryan with Viking Building Restoration in Janesville. We missed each other today, but he is calling again on Monday. He is willing to drive over and inspect our home and write a proposal for the work. We live about 2 hours west of Madison.

Here are a couple of pictures. I didn't get any of the areas that need repair as it really started to rain hard again and I didn't want to wreck my new camera in the rain. But they will give you an idea of our home and the bricks used. It was getting dark, and as I said, it started raining so please excuse the quality of the photos. The close ups are taken in the area between the single window on the side and the bay window area.

We will be re-roofing the house this summer and repairing the roof on the bay window as well.


Marylu

I suggest you ask at your local historical society for some names of restoration-minded tradespeople (and you mentioned that you might be able to get a tax break on the repair, so that must mean your are in an historic district, so they will know of good workers). It may take a while to get the right person, but unless the house is in imminent danger (and many old houses tolerate some degree of poor repair for many years, without long run.

You might also ask some of the same techincal questions at both of these historic house boards:

www.historichomeworks.com and the oldhouse web link below.

(If there are publications about brick-work for sale at the historichomeworks site, you might consider purchasing them. I have John Leeke's other publications on window and trim repair and they are excellent. Since I have no brickwork, I can't recall if he's also written about that.)

Both of these discussion boards have helpful and brick-knowledgable members who share their expertise, readily. I hope you can get some more help with your building which is very nice.

Molly~

I am remembering when the contractors I work with , and me too, didn't know a lot about old houses. We just admired them and liked working on them. We had to do lots of research on every job. Now we're seen as the local experts!
Today we know we need to keep reading and learning.

Your house is charming. Thanks for the photographs

Molly...I checked out your link to the other forum and found some interesting info. Will continue to check in there as well. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.

I do not believe we are in a historic district exactly, but from what I have read about the Wisconsin Historical Tax Credit is that your house need only be considered "eligible" to be registered as a historical site to be able to apply for the tax credit. As our home is documented as far as when built/by who and is discussed in literature concerning local history, I do not think it would be a problem having it determined as "eligible". In fact the PO had the papers to register it and gave them to us. However we decided not to pursue having it registered with the Historical Society for various reasons. However, our community considers it historical and we are included on local tours as a historical site.

Over the weekend I have continued researching and have found a few more companies to check with. Will be doing that tomorrow. Will let keep you posted on the outcomes.
Marylu

I'm also trying to find out how best to get our chimney's repointed in our 1885 farmhouse. They are not in dire straits yet, but it's going to have to be done soon. I live in a small rural area where finding historically correct tradsmen is rare, so what I've been doing is researching how to repoint/repair old brickwork. Then I'll ask around to see if someone is willing to work and learn with me. So far what I've found is it is critical to get the morter softness right, which I think comes from the amount of lime. If it is too hard the morter will eventually distroy the brick. Also finding the right color of sand is important to matching the color. I saw a This Old House episode about this and I think there was a company that you could send a sample of your mortar and then they create a recipe that matches it which can be used by your tradesman. I don't know how much that would cost.

http://www.virginialimeworks.com/services/analysis_matching.html

and another article on historic brickwork:
http://www.oldhousejournal.com/npsbriefs2/brief02.shtml

"And that particular bit of brickwork needs repointing because why?"
The area shown in the pictures above is in good condition compared to some of the other areas. There is deterioration as well as cracks. We do not want to let it deteriorate any more than it already has.
Marylu

Best Wishes!
Mary

There is a good chance you have old lime mortar, not Portland cement mortar.

If the mortar is stronger than the brick, guess what breaks?

Mortar should ALWAYS be weaker than the brick.
You WANT the mortar to fail first, allowing easy repairs.

KarinL

So....that's my update. Wish I could say that it was completed and done right!

Any loose mortar needs to be removed back to solid mortar, but if it needs grinding out it is NOT loose.

A plugging chisel may be needed to break up loose but larger pieces for removal.

Using a large mortar bag (think pastry bag on steroids) and some tuck pointing trowels to pack and smooth the mortar, the a jointer for final shaping if required.

It takes practice to apply the mortar, tool it, and NOT get it smeared all over the place.

I have used a hawk with a ground down edge to pack the joints sometime instead of a mortar bag.

I have been renovating and restoring houses for over 35 years.

My 'side business' is purchasing older houses that need work, then fixing them up for sale at a profit.

I shy away from badly damaged houses now, but used to be willing to try almost anything.

Some of the coolest repairs have been on Federal period town houses and buildings in Alexandria, VA.

You think long and hard before tearing into buildings that have stood since the 1730s.