Brick facade
I intend to strip my ugly fake-stone facade. i know the brick underneath will be damaged and much repointing will be needed – does anyone know a mason experienced with historic brick? My house is 120 years old and it may be hard to match the brick.
I intend to strip my ugly fake-stone facade. i know the brick underneath will be damaged and much repointing will be needed – does anyone know a mason experienced with historic brick? My house is 120 years old and it may be hard to match the brick.
Very sorry about the duplicate posts above. Ghosts in the machine. Not sure why that happened.
Purchasing new brick to replace the existing is much less expensive than attempting to repair the existing masonry.
The links from Vinca may clarify this but… when the stucco facing on our rear brick wall deteriorated and came loose I explored leaving the underlying brick exposed and, like OP, expected simply to repoint the brick. What I learned was that the face of the brick, or what’s known as the fire skin of the brick, would have been damaged when the facade was removed — so the brick face would become more porous and subject to water damage. Not between the bricks where pointing is done. But through the face of the brick. I did a fair amount of research on this before deciding to reface the brick with new stucco. BTW, I had the work done then by Metro Waterproofing who did a great job.
The links from Vinca may clarify this but… when the stucco facing on our rear brick wall deteriorated and came loose I explored leaving the underlying brick exposed and, like OP, expected simply to repoint the brick. What I learned was that the face of the brick, or what’s known as the fire skin of the brick, would have been damaged when the facade was removed — so the brick face would become more porous and subject to water damage. Not between the bricks where pointing is done. But through the face of the brick. I did a fair amount of research on this before deciding to reface the brick with new stucco. BTW, I had the work done then by Metro Waterproofing who did a great job.
The links from Vinca may clarify this but… when the stucco facing on our rear brick wall deteriorated and came loose I explored leaving the underlying brick exposed and, like OP, expected simply to repoint the brick. What I learned was that the face of the brick, or what’s known as the fire skin of the brick, would have been damaged when the facade was removed — so the brick face would become more porous and subject to water damage. Not between the bricks where pointing is done. But through the face of the brick. I did a fair amount of research on this before deciding to reface the brick with new stucco. BTW, I had the work done then by Metro Waterproofing who did a great job.
The links from Vinca may clarify this but… when the stucco facing on our rear brick wall deteriorated and came loose I explored leaving the underlying brick exposed and, like OP, expected simply to repoint the brick. What I learned was that the face of the brick, or what’s known as the fire skin of the brick, would have been damaged when the facade was removed — so the brick face would become more porous and subject to water damage. Not between the bricks where pointing is done. But through the face of the brick. I did a fair amount of research on this before deciding to reface the brick with new stucco. BTW, I had the work done then by Metro Waterproofing who did a great job.
Cannot recommend a specialist, but you might find two (or all three) of these links useful. The folks at Restore (2nd link), might be able to make a referral:
http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/TPS/briefs/brief02.htm
http://www.restoretraining.org/
http://www.donhead.com/conservation_historic_brick_structures.htm
Choosing the correct brick is important. Rather than depending completely on the contractors color sens, you should go to Glenwood Masonry in Brooklyn and or the Belden Brick Showroom in NYC.
Choosing the correct brick is important. Rather than depending completely on the contractors color sens, you should go to Glenwood Masonry in Brooklyn and or the Belden Brick Showroom in NYC.