What is brownstone special cement?

When mine was redone the cement was mixed with sand made from actual brownstone and mica was added to it.

snowman2

in Facade and Brownstone Repair 12 years and 11 months ago

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CG11231 | 12 years and 11 months ago

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I asked contractor whether final coat on exterior stairs and facade repair would be stucco.  His answer: “Final brownstone coat will not be stucco but will be brownstone special cement, made specifically for historic brownstone buildings.” Is anyone familiar with this term and what it actually means? How thick should this coat be? Thanks

stevecym | 12 years and 11 months ago

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I think of stucco as a multi step process, not a product.  you have a base of wire and a rough coat and then a mortar top coat.  Now I say this loosely.  I am not a mortar person and I personally detest the work; that does not mean we do not do it and it does not mean that I have not done it in the past with my own hands – mosty with my grandfather and he has been gone a good while. when your contractor mentioned “brownstone special cement” I am thinking that he is still using a process similier to stuccoing.  I am actually pretty sure of this because when we are going about our own interior work on brownstones, we stop and talk the the guys doing the mortar work and what they have is a scratch coat in regular mortar. for all intents and purposes, it could be a scratch coat applied to wire mesh just like we apply stucco when we close a doorway or window – but in their case, we know the base is brick or old brownstone.  and they apply a scratch coat to that.  then they come along and apply a top coat that looks like brownstone.  It looks to me like mortar with something in it and I have yet to figure out if they are using regular mortar and adding the dye to it on site or if they are buying a mortar with something pre – added.  Mind you, it is not my thing and I have no desire to venture into this, so I will not ask.  If you really want to know what they are using – and if I were hiring a contractor to work on my house, I would want to know and would want it in writing – I would ask the name (brand) of the product and more detail such as a product number.  when we finish woodwork, we always provide the name of the finish we will be using even if we call it by a variety of slang names when we are on the job- the customer does not need to know our slang names, they just need to know what they are paying for. I am not a mason, but to answer your question about how thick this should be, I would say that a top coat should be about 1/4″ thick, a little more or less.  now this all depends on the number of coats.  If I did a two coat over wire lath over brick, I might feel a heavier coat is needed.  I suspect that this will vary with a two coat done over an already existing masonry base. I am not a mason.  these are ideas I have picked up over the years and I can say you should not take them too much to salt until you read further or hear otherwise here. Steve

http://brownstoner.staging.wpengine.com/tinkerswagon

NeoGrec | 12 years and 11 months ago

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If you are interested in knowing the exact make up of the “official” LPC-approved final finish coat used in the rebrownstoning process, visit the LPC website — part of nyc.gov. Click on the “Forms and Publications” tab, then find the “Rowhouse Manual” and refer to page 44. LPC provides a specific formula there for the slurry coat, scratch coat and finish coat. The finish coat is a mix of Portland cement, lime, sand, crushed stone and powdered pigments. In fact as part of the application for the LPC permit, masonry contractors have to commit to using this exact formula. Whether or not your property is landmarked, a reputable masonry contractor should know about this formula and probably be using it.