sarahw's Profile
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October 17, 2007
Crumbling bricks
I own a brownstone in Bed Sty. The common interior wall which the staircase runs up has exposed bricks. They've been sealed (you can tell because they are shiny). But, on the second floor some of the bricks literally crumble when you touch them, but in to a very fine white powder. These are not white bricks... they are natural/red color. I have no idea what this could be. Does anyone have an idea?
Author's Comments
Thanks for the 2 reponses! Yes, it looks like a white fuzz. Should I be worried about this? Does it lead to other problems? Mainly, it's just a nuisance and creates a big mess. How does one eliminate this? I have no idea where the moisture is coming from...
Posted by: sarahw at October 17, 2007 3:14 PM in response to Crumbling bricks
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
sounds like it's efflorescence, due to moisture in the brick... forms salts and then powders up... the powdery substance is called effloresence.
http://www.buildingdiagnostics.com/articles/masonry.html
Posted by: bren at October 17, 2007 6:54 PM in response to Crumbling bricks
Hello I saw the above coments and thought they were very interesting. I had a huge tree in my back yard and I had it prunned and then finally cut down, and it didnt cost me over 1200.00 for both jobs. I used Wright Management who, brought in professional timbermen (they climbed the trees with chainsaws)in less than an hour the three was laying in my backyard in a hundred pieces, the larger expense was having the tree removed from the back yard. WMC number is 3477896550. Good Luck
Posted by: guest at December 6, 2007 8:43 AM in response to Tree pruning
A friend of mine sent me the link to this thread. My name is Josh Galiley and I am the Central Park Conservancy's Arborist and Tree Care Supervisor. Prior to that I was an arborist and climber/pruner for the New York Botanical Garden. I was born and raised in Park Slope and still reside here. I take interest in this conversation because I do what I can in order to educate people on proper tree care.
If you are looking to have a tree removed, all you need is a company with the proper insurance and the best price. If you are looking to have a tree cared for (pruning falls under tree care), you should find a company that can satisfy at least some of the following:
-have an ISA (International Society of Arboriculture) Certified Arborist on staff (and perferably, have that person evaluate your trees). You can search for ISA Certified Arborists on their website.
-use a company that is accredited by TCIA (the Tree Care Industry Association of America). You can search on for these companies on their website.
-make sure the sales person/arborist is familiar with the ANSI A300 pruning standards (they should be able to produce a copy of these standards if they in fact know what they are). These standards are put together by the American National Standards Institute (a group made of professionals, educators, researchers, policy makers, etc.). They are the industry standard for defining the how's and why's of pruning. YOU SHOULD HAVE THESE STANDARDS WRITTEN INTO YOUR CONTRACT SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO HAVE THE TREE PRUNED. That way the company is held against an objective standard should the work be unsatisfactory.
-use a company that has a professional feel. They should wear appropriate safety gear (hard hats, safety glasses, chainsaw chaps for cutting on the ground...all required by OSHA law).
-make sure that climbing spikes (spurs, gaffs) are not used on your tree. They are only appropriate when removing a tree. Otherwise, they are extremely injurious to the tree. Any company that prunes using climbing spikes has no business caring for trees.
It is hard to find arborists and companies that satisfy all (or even some )of the above in this area. Companies that can satisify all of the above might be more expensive, but it is worth it. Arborists are professionals too. You wouldn't trust just anyone who called himself a plumber or an electrician, or for that matter a doctor or lawyer to work for you. Your trees add value to your house. However, if they are poorly cared for, they can become liabilities. Take the time and make the investment.
Good Luck...Josh
Posted by: guest at December 10, 2007 7:27 PM in response to Tree pruning
Our company practices a holistic approach to tree care, using techniques and knowledge that places us in the forefront of tree health management.
Check our tree pruning page
http://www.superiornw.com/pruning.html
Posted by: jaui at August 26, 2008 4:59 AM in response to Tree pruning
Wasted my time waiting for Prospect Tree -
After reading positive reviews for Prospect Tree on this site, I decided to make a call. Hollis came by to give me an estimate and he said he can do the job on Monday around 9 AM. Well, that came and went...no one showed up, no one returned my phone calls. If you have better things to do than sitting around waiting for a no-show, then I would suggest NOT calling Prospect.
Posted by: melocoton at October 20, 2008 3:16 PM in response to Tree pruning
We have several trees in our backyard and we used Family Tree Service to trim some very large dead limbs off of the top of a tree over 4 stories tall. If I remember correctly, they charged $750. We also got a quote from Dragonetti and they recommended chopping the whole thing down. Their quote to just trim was $1200. I advise you to get at least two quotes because each company seems to take a different approach. I'm not sure what your timing for trimming is, but it might be too cold to do major trimming. I'm sure the Tree Service's arborist can advise. Best of luck.
Posted by: sarahw at December 4, 2007 1:15 PM in response to Tree pruning