recommendations for brick painting/coating?

Thank you for all the suggestions.  The issue is that, while the majority of the bricks look ok, a good 30% of them have uneven or pitted surfaces possibly from the powerwashing (which is supposed to be avoided with softer historic brick). Can anyone recommend a structural engineer or masonry expert who has experience with older brick buildings to get them to look and give us an opinion?

metaphase

in Masonry 12 years and 1 month ago

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metaphase | 12 years and 1 month ago

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We have a townhouse with a rear exterior brick wall that is not painted/coated.  The previous owners removed the paint by powerwashing and then repointed a couple years ago.  The wall is in good shape, with the majority of bricks having an intact fired surface and a thin layer/patina of paint but some are exposed.    We are concerned that some sort of paint,coating, or waterproofing is needed, since ALL of the houses on our block have painted/coated backs.  I have heard that soft fired bricks were often used for rear walls and therefore they need painting for structural integrity of the long run.   We could really use recommendations on the following:   1\. What to paint/coat/waterproof with?  I have seen a lot of recommendations for thorocoat, but is there someting newer and better?  Or is there something clear that we could use to retain the brick look?   2\. A masonry expert to tell us if we need to paint/coat   3\. A contractor/painter to do the work   Thank you!

Townie | 12 years and 1 month ago

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Unless you have water problems just leave it alone.  Here is a case where all the other houses are in the wrong.

BobMarvin | 12 years and 1 month ago

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I used Thorolast, which, as the name implies, ie flexible and less likely to crack than Thorocoat. OTOH maybe totoro is right, although I too have been told that most rear walls were intended to be painted.

m926bk | 12 years and 1 month ago

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If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  In most cases, masonry is not supposed to be painted or sealed – a lot of people do that instead of proper maintance, like repointing, or because the brick looks dirty or old.  In certain cases, though, it is appropriate, and in those cases, be sure that your coating or sealer is intended for masonry and is breathable.  It is my understanding that party walls often used lesser-quality bricks because they weren’t meant to be exposed, but not rear walls, which were always exposed to weather.

eliasbstuy | 12 years and 1 month ago

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This is friendly advise, please do not paint your wall if you don’t have any problem. If you want to protect your wall, what you can do is acid wash then put silicon that will be better than painting for sealing purposes. I would suggest you call a contractor and I know a guy who can does that and does it very well. His information is 718-669-8305.

backeast | 12 years and 1 month ago

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FWIW, when I had my home inspected for purchase a year ago, the inspector (recommended many times on this forum) said that brick needs to breathe and suggested we remove the stucco that partially covered the rear wall.

xistent | 12 years and 1 month ago

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we have a back wall that has been covered with thoroseal years ago and is not removeable. as was done many years ago, for aesthetic reasons we want to do something. should we just put another layer of thoroseal on?

Townie | 12 years and 1 month ago

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To add to my previous post our neighbor just spent a good deal of money removing the loose concrete stucco,  removing and replacing the top 10 or so courses by salvaging old brick, and then repointing.  It looks fantastic just like the day 100+ years ago when it was laid.   The contractor told me that the stucco had become loose and trapped water behind it causing all kinds of problems.

mylrob | 12 years and 1 month ago

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A common mistake in NYC- NEVER paint the brick. This is the biggest reason for cracks; once water gets in it has no way to go out and will deteriorate the bricks. And there is no such thing as “breathable” paint, even thu the manufacturer might state so. If you have leaks, thats a different story and should be treated by other means than coating. The previous owners did the right thing by removing the paint and pointing the joints.

jordanbennett | 12 years and 1 month ago

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If the previous homeowner washed the bricks and repointed it many years ago..i suggest you dont apply any more paints. have someone clean and remove the old pointing mortar and repoint with new waterproof lime based pointing mortar Type N. its good for historic bricks. if you need recomendation from my expericenced contractor. email me. then i will send you his info> jordan.bennett578@yahoo.com