Two things are so wrong: the brick used to fill a window is an interior brick. It's soft and eventually it will crumble. The brick wasn't rebedded.
Showing posts with label Hoosier Rehabbing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hoosier Rehabbing. Show all posts
1/15/22
Whoops
Drives me batshit.
Two things are so wrong: the brick used to fill a window is an interior brick. It's soft and eventually it will crumble. The brick wasn't rebedded.
Two things are so wrong: the brick used to fill a window is an interior brick. It's soft and eventually it will crumble. The brick wasn't rebedded.
9/2/21
10/27/10
Ghetto on Ghetto?
But wait, I was thinking as I skimmed the article (click on the title), Christo already did that. I mean, the man invented the medium.
I started a mild burn...Historic BRICK house but OK, in a depressed area where hey, no worries over a further drop in value. FYI: Depressed area doesn't always mean black folk live there or that they wear gold chains which looks more like a 80s Versace scarf print than wrapped rapper.
Please.
Here's some tedious rhetoric from the artist statement:
I'm gagging.
I started a mild burn...Historic BRICK house but OK, in a depressed area where hey, no worries over a further drop in value. FYI: Depressed area doesn't always mean black folk live there or that they wear gold chains which looks more like a 80s Versace scarf print than wrapped rapper.
Please.
Here's some tedious rhetoric from the artist statement:
...The house, wrapped in gold chains, will flaunt itself to locals, while simultaneously finding itself bound and gagged by its own design.
I'm gagging.
10/18/10
How rude
Never mind that Morgan Ford is once again a thriving business district just resolve your tuckpointing issue with white vinyl siding over historic brick.
Congratulations dimwits, you've just won the hoosier rehabbing Award of the Year!
Congratulations dimwits, you've just won the hoosier rehabbing Award of the Year!
9/11/10
What's Wrong with this Picture?
As a kid I loved What's Wrong with this Picture? it would display two images that were close but didn't match and the objective was to locate the differences.
Location: The Hill.
Of course.
Location: The Hill.
Of course.
5/26/10
Permastone or more hoosier rehabbing
This building had a face lift:
Permastone was added to the facade to bump it out and create a frame. I'm guessing it was done because the building owner grew weary of rocks being tossed into the original plate glass windows.
Permastone was added to the facade to bump it out and create a frame. I'm guessing it was done because the building owner grew weary of rocks being tossed into the original plate glass windows.
4/19/10
2/3/10
How to Eliminate Lawn Mover Emissions
Because I preparing for the inevitable infirmary last summer I eliminated the front lawn:
This was achieved by putting down layers of wet newspaper and covering them with mulch. The tree lawn has been planted with drought tolerant laripoe. No more mowing.
Here's an extreme example of eliminating mowing, pave the damn yard!
Cute, that the asphalt was painted green.
This house is located in Southwest Gardens but it's still The Hill to me.
This was achieved by putting down layers of wet newspaper and covering them with mulch. The tree lawn has been planted with drought tolerant laripoe. No more mowing.
Here's an extreme example of eliminating mowing, pave the damn yard!
Cute, that the asphalt was painted green.
This house is located in Southwest Gardens but it's still The Hill to me.
1/23/10
1/22/10
Brick hot line
My neighbor Mel called today with a hot tip about hearing a huge KABOOM. A building on her block lost the outer wythe of brick at the top.
In this photo you can see a previous repointing job that can only be tagged hoosier rehabbing.
I'm thinking this was a combination of less than amateur tuck pointing combined with the recent freeze/thaw. There had to be water behind the brick that froze, expanded, then blew the course out.
In this photo you can see a previous repointing job that can only be tagged hoosier rehabbing.
I'm thinking this was a combination of less than amateur tuck pointing combined with the recent freeze/thaw. There had to be water behind the brick that froze, expanded, then blew the course out.
1/14/10
Candlelight Vigil for a downspout
Every year during a thaw my downspout freezes. It's on the north side of the building so it's shaded during the day and presently frozen solid. The thawing snow on the 1,400 square foot graded roof melts and rushes to the gutter where it drops into the downspout.
Five years ago this wasn't a problem since my original copper downspout looked like this:
The above is a photo of my neighbors down spout.
Four years ago I had contracted to have the gutter and only the gutter replaced. The price was 100.00.
Wilken's crew arrived, I left for the morning, and when I returned home I found two men on the roof and the copper downspout in the yard. They replaced it with an aluminum downspout with an elbow that catches thawing snow and causes it to freeze at the joint creating a dam. They also neglected to replace the gutter on the side of my building and did not install fascia under the 20 foot gutter. Idjets.
Less than a year later I was in small claims court with the owner Paul Wilken of Wilken Seamless Guttering and his two 'witnesses' -- his employees who stole my downspout and sold it for scrap. My beautiful and historic original downspout! They told the judge they scraped it for 140.00.
Paul argued he couldn't attach aluminum to copper. I agreed and mentioned I was aware of galvanic action but that a piece could have been used to prevent the metals from meeting and removing the downspout had never been discussed.
I won the case but only the 100.00 I originally paid. The original downspout had been anchored into the brick. These chumps drilled into the mortar and the freezing water is popping out mortar joints. Oh yeah, I also have gaping holes in brick.
Yep, that's a lit candle under the joint. Talk about hooiser rehabbing!
I took this photo yesterday and the ice was gone within an hour.
What worked best was pots of boiling water slowly poured onto the metal from both floors.
The ice along the outside of the downspout is a result of thawing snow dripping from the above gutter. Had I not found a way to melt the ice on the inside and outside there would have been more water damage inside the house. Yes, it did cause damage to an interior wall.
Mortar joint popping out from ice:
Five years ago this wasn't a problem since my original copper downspout looked like this:
The above is a photo of my neighbors down spout.
Four years ago I had contracted to have the gutter and only the gutter replaced. The price was 100.00.
Wilken's crew arrived, I left for the morning, and when I returned home I found two men on the roof and the copper downspout in the yard. They replaced it with an aluminum downspout with an elbow that catches thawing snow and causes it to freeze at the joint creating a dam. They also neglected to replace the gutter on the side of my building and did not install fascia under the 20 foot gutter. Idjets.
Less than a year later I was in small claims court with the owner Paul Wilken of Wilken Seamless Guttering and his two 'witnesses' -- his employees who stole my downspout and sold it for scrap. My beautiful and historic original downspout! They told the judge they scraped it for 140.00.
Paul argued he couldn't attach aluminum to copper. I agreed and mentioned I was aware of galvanic action but that a piece could have been used to prevent the metals from meeting and removing the downspout had never been discussed.
I won the case but only the 100.00 I originally paid. The original downspout had been anchored into the brick. These chumps drilled into the mortar and the freezing water is popping out mortar joints. Oh yeah, I also have gaping holes in brick.
Yep, that's a lit candle under the joint. Talk about hooiser rehabbing!
I took this photo yesterday and the ice was gone within an hour.
What worked best was pots of boiling water slowly poured onto the metal from both floors.
The ice along the outside of the downspout is a result of thawing snow dripping from the above gutter. Had I not found a way to melt the ice on the inside and outside there would have been more water damage inside the house. Yes, it did cause damage to an interior wall.
Mortar joint popping out from ice:
11/11/09
Heinous Repointing
There I was driving down a street minding my business when I spotted this building and the bizzaro repointing:
Click to enlarge if you're seated.
Click to enlarge if you're seated.
3/23/09
Painted brick
I came across this tragedy while driving through Richmond Heights a few weeks ago. I actually had to make a U turn to gawk. It's a bright purple. Seriously, bright purple.
1/2/09
Beau is shocked
Holy cats! Someone painted their concrete side walk pink.
Beau contemplates lifting a leg.
Beau contemplates lifting a leg.
6/17/08
12/31/07
When good buildings go bad OR more hoosier contracting
I experience both embarrassment and horror when I drive by this building on Roger Pl.
Obviously two doors existed in the spaces the cinder blocks currently occupy. Perhaps the wood frames has rotted. I don't know. I do know this was a hideous solution.
Obviously two doors existed in the spaces the cinder blocks currently occupy. Perhaps the wood frames has rotted. I don't know. I do know this was a hideous solution.
11/16/07
CAPISTRANO BUILDING: BRICK & MORTAR- SMEAR JOB
While I've never done any masonry I've looked at pointing, brick and mortar for decades. (I've even tasted the stuff, bricks too.) I'm a huge fan of the old mortar blends with the tiny pebbles. I do my research on sidewalks, in the streets and hang with some stone masons (I'm some kind of brick groupie to these guys who kindly tolerate my excitement with amused and bewildered expressions. No one's ever asked me these questions before, said Simon). These are my qualifications.
Loosely speaking, pointing is the mortar between bricks. A more accurate definition is that it's the visible edge of the mortar-joint. There are styles of pointing which include flush, tuck, bucket handle and recessed pointing.
The photo below shows the repointing debacle on the Capistrano building on Utah and Gustine.
I'm betting the original pointing on the Capistrano's exterior walls was recessed. That is, the brick presented about 1/4" of an inch further out than the pointing.
I realize (without never having done it) drag face brick is a bitch to repoint. I've documented enough of it and seriously, I sympathize. (I also know that old mortar had a higher lime content -hence the term lime-mortar- than the newer replacement mortar. The Portland cement content of new mortar can damage old walls beyond repair.) Repointing brick like this requires expertise, patience and proper tools. None of these were on the truck the day it pulled up to The Capistrano.
The mortar mix used does not begin to match the original and it will eventually pop out.
In the upper left hand corner you can see that the repointing was finger tooled. Finger tooled! No, NO, NO!
Click on the photo to enlarge it and you'll see cracks already forming in the mortar. No cracks present in the brick though!
And now, feast your eyes on the details of this one astonishing brick.
More finger tooling and resulting fissures.
Stretcher Bond:
NEVER sandblast old brick! Sandblasting can damage the hard surface of fired brick and open the bricks up to water damage. Not to mention that fact that it can turn beautifully rubbed facing brick into dented, pitted clinkers, and can blast out softened mortar joints. Sandblasting will kill your building.
There are alternatives to sandblasting that could be used if the brick is heavily soiled or stained. Some other options include rice-hulls, styrofoam balls, nutshells, etc. All of these options are easier on brick, although still risky. They require far less pressure, and may be safer. Still, the only surface really suited to sandblasting is metalwork.
NEVER paint brick!
Loosely speaking, pointing is the mortar between bricks. A more accurate definition is that it's the visible edge of the mortar-joint. There are styles of pointing which include flush, tuck, bucket handle and recessed pointing.
The photo below shows the repointing debacle on the Capistrano building on Utah and Gustine.
I'm betting the original pointing on the Capistrano's exterior walls was recessed. That is, the brick presented about 1/4" of an inch further out than the pointing.
I realize (without never having done it) drag face brick is a bitch to repoint. I've documented enough of it and seriously, I sympathize. (I also know that old mortar had a higher lime content -hence the term lime-mortar- than the newer replacement mortar. The Portland cement content of new mortar can damage old walls beyond repair.) Repointing brick like this requires expertise, patience and proper tools. None of these were on the truck the day it pulled up to The Capistrano.
The mortar mix used does not begin to match the original and it will eventually pop out.
In the upper left hand corner you can see that the repointing was finger tooled. Finger tooled! No, NO, NO!
Click on the photo to enlarge it and you'll see cracks already forming in the mortar. No cracks present in the brick though!
And now, feast your eyes on the details of this one astonishing brick.
More finger tooling and resulting fissures.
Stretcher Bond:
NEVER sandblast old brick! Sandblasting can damage the hard surface of fired brick and open the bricks up to water damage. Not to mention that fact that it can turn beautifully rubbed facing brick into dented, pitted clinkers, and can blast out softened mortar joints. Sandblasting will kill your building.
There are alternatives to sandblasting that could be used if the brick is heavily soiled or stained. Some other options include rice-hulls, styrofoam balls, nutshells, etc. All of these options are easier on brick, although still risky. They require far less pressure, and may be safer. Still, the only surface really suited to sandblasting is metalwork.
NEVER paint brick!
10/1/07
TINY SQUARES BRICK & HOOSIER MORTAR
This is the story of astounding face bricks and 'mortar' out of a tube.
I am an admirer of bricks, especially face bricks. Face brick is the name for the decorative bricks that were used on the front of the house that faces the street. This photo illustrates face brick on the front of the building and regular (I can't bring myself to say 'common') red brick used on the side.
I love face brick! So when I discover a previously undiscovered (to me) brick, it's always exciting.
These are on Morgan Ford Road between Hartford and Connecticut. Cool bricks, huh?
Then there's the hoosier repointing job. That gunk is 'mortar' that can be bought in a tube. It's weird stuff, I've used it before to patch a small burrowed hole in my foundation. It has a fey spongy consistency as it slowly sets. I was pushing small rocks into it the next day and it was pushing back!
The only way to apply the goo is with a finger.
The trick I used is to coat my fingers with dishwashing soap (so the 'mortar' doesn't stick to me).
This was never meant to be used as brick mortar and mortar is not an adhesive.
That's Missy Van Winkle's Hand.
I am an admirer of bricks, especially face bricks. Face brick is the name for the decorative bricks that were used on the front of the house that faces the street. This photo illustrates face brick on the front of the building and regular (I can't bring myself to say 'common') red brick used on the side.
I love face brick! So when I discover a previously undiscovered (to me) brick, it's always exciting.
These are on Morgan Ford Road between Hartford and Connecticut. Cool bricks, huh?
Then there's the hoosier repointing job. That gunk is 'mortar' that can be bought in a tube. It's weird stuff, I've used it before to patch a small burrowed hole in my foundation. It has a fey spongy consistency as it slowly sets. I was pushing small rocks into it the next day and it was pushing back!
The only way to apply the goo is with a finger.
The trick I used is to coat my fingers with dishwashing soap (so the 'mortar' doesn't stick to me).
This was never meant to be used as brick mortar and mortar is not an adhesive.
That's Missy Van Winkle's Hand.
9/17/07
HOW TO KILL CURB APPEAL & OFFEND YOUR NEIGHBOR
Hi.
I'm your neighbor that lives up the street. Thrice a week I pass your building and am writing to express my distress about 1) the painted steps, 2) the horrid repointing on the (once) outstanding porch. The only thing pretty in this photo is the back of Beaus' head (note he's looking away from the steps. That's my boy.)
I could have let the painted steps slide without comment.
But this?
What is this, some home made cement mojo mixed in the basement and applied with a spatula and spray gun?
You've some of my most favorite brick on your building - what I call incised brick (it's not, that's just my name for it. It was fired in a mold with ridges). I love the soldier bond used on the top and bottom of the porch!
You may have considered the subtle range of color to your bricks before painting the steps dismal gray. The colors resonate with nature and all that is Outside.
Added to Hoosier Contracting:
I'm your neighbor that lives up the street. Thrice a week I pass your building and am writing to express my distress about 1) the painted steps, 2) the horrid repointing on the (once) outstanding porch. The only thing pretty in this photo is the back of Beaus' head (note he's looking away from the steps. That's my boy.)
I could have let the painted steps slide without comment.
But this?
What is this, some home made cement mojo mixed in the basement and applied with a spatula and spray gun?
You've some of my most favorite brick on your building - what I call incised brick (it's not, that's just my name for it. It was fired in a mold with ridges). I love the soldier bond used on the top and bottom of the porch!
You may have considered the subtle range of color to your bricks before painting the steps dismal gray. The colors resonate with nature and all that is Outside.
Added to Hoosier Contracting:
7/31/07
MAD FOR MORTAR?
Yikes! Presto, destructo.
When bad repointing ruins a historic home...what's next, stucco?
When bad repointing ruins a historic home...what's next, stucco?
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