Historic landmarks and city skyscrapers can all suffer damage to the stone, block or brick they’re made of. Restoring the integrity of a building begins with hiring a company that’s experienced in masonry repair in Conshohocken, PA. Historic buildings have a much different type of mortar in the joints than the mixture used by many masonries today. Until the mid-nineteenth century, mortar consisted of one part lime putty to three parts of sand. It could have included brick dust, clay, natural cement, pigments and even animal hair. With the invention of a new cement, this mixture was no longer used.
A historical building preservation begins with appropriately identifying the causes of deterioration and determine the right solution to the problem. The mortar choice must be sturdy and match the mortar of that era. Areas that do not need any work must match the mortar in areas that need to be replaced in color, texture, and tooling. The sand in the mixture should match the sand in the historic mortar. The new mortar that is installed should have a greater vapor permeability. Lime and materials that were used in historical buildings were natural and not manufactured and the consistency varied a great deal from building to building.
Repointing and tuckpointing both involve digging the mortar joints out. The difference between the two is repointing renews them. Tuckpointing involves filling in pre-cleaned mortar joints and the use of two different colors of mortar to alter the appearance of the joint. Tuckpointing can be made to match the actual bricks so it blends in with existing brick that might be damaged. Masonry repair in Conshohocken, PA should only be performed by highly-trained technicians. The joints in the building help to maintain the strength of the building and keep moisture from damaging the building.
Brick and stone can last for upwards of 100 years without the need of any type of maintenance. Other structures may only last 20-30 years before requiring repairs to be performed. An entire building usually doesn’t need to be repaired and the type of mortar used must be exactly right or it could cause further damage to the building and give a non-cohesive look. For more information about masonry repair, please visit the website.
