#brickseries #032

Running bond switching to stacked (header) bond to create the radius wall at the breakfast nook in this incredible Mid-Century home!

#brickseries #031

Restored stone mantle and brick fireplace in a renovation project.

#brickseries #030

Evaluating a match for integrity on a historic rehabilitation (original brick is dirty).

#architecture #sitevisit #submittals

#brickseries #029

Just here admiring the weathered rough edge, running bond, deep-struck, wide joint composition in this brick veneer on a house we just measured for remodeling design.

Also, search this hashtag for more brick content. Apparently I'm the only one using it.

#brickseries #028

Brick flues are a common discovery in pre-1940's single family homes. Sometimes they are used to vent older natural gas water heaters or furnaces (newer units tend to vent out walls, not up). They are sort-of structural... Don't remove them without a close look at the framing.

#brickseries #027

Iowa brick on my walk yesterday evening.

#brickseries #26

Spalling observed during a pre-purchase consult at a historic home. Interestingly, this home was moved to its current location almost 100 years ago, before concrete foundations were a thing.

#brickseries #025

Never cover up historic brick with fake stone. But if you do cover up historic brick with fake stone, don't grind the brick to make the fake stone "stick" better.

Sincerely,
Your historic architect

#brickseries #024

Don't do this. These are vents that allow air to circulate under your porch and clear out moisture. Trapping moisture behind brick will speed up deterioration.

#brickseries #023

St. Louis brick, oh how I have missed you... Feels like home.

#brickseries #021

Our client salvaged this pile of historic brick pavers when their neighbor took up an old walkway. We'll incorporate them into a patio as part of a new sunroom addition!

#brickseries #020

Check out this clay tile and brick combo wall. It was originally a fully finished space with plaster. Years of neglect and inappropriate remodels left it in non-repairable condition. Most of it will be furred out and insulated as part of this gut remodel project.

#brickseries 019

I kind of love this narrow cut brick corbeled dentil band. Observed while walking to lunch in St. Paul.

#brickseries 018

This is what happens when water is not managed against a brink masonry wall. There is a disconnected downspout dumping rainwater along the surface. We see moss growth, efflorescence, and mortar deterioration here.

#brickseries 017

I just ran across this super cool photo... Reposting for you all. Look at the character in these bricks! No notes.

It may look good for a while, but a thin cover-up veneer can't solve structural problems... a #brickseries metaphor.

016

That time I borrowed my brother-in-law's beater truck to pick up a load of free salvage brick pavers... Which are mostly still sitting stacked in my back yard 15 years later.

#brickseries 015

Another off-topic repost... I see an unmatched mortar, shallow repointing, and efflorescence here. You should get your brick checked.

#brickseries 014

Cheugy repost comment: FYI, that row of bricks you're looking at is called a "header course". It connects two wythes of bricks together by spanning across the gap between.

#brickseries 013

#brickseries 012

Simply placing more mortar in doesn't address the root cause of differential settling. This attached window header will fail.

Also the mortar patch doesn't appear to be the appropriate composition for a "soft" historic brick.

#brickseries 011

Observed at today's #sitevisit - these thin wood strips slotted into a clay tile masonry wall serves as attachment points for the original sound absorptive panels in this #historic single screen movie theater.

#brickseries 010

Repointing and reconstructing brick arches on a historic steeple... A fun climb 70 feet up on scaffolding to perform a construction admin site visit!

#brickseries 009

You see these little guys on a lot of historic masonry buildings... Sometimes they are ornate and other times more utilitarian. They stabilize the building by connecting the floor structure to the masonry wall.

#brickseries 008

The buff glazed brick on the front facade of this historic 1930s single screen movie theater was destroyed by cover-up stone veneer. Our #historic #rehabilitation work includes reconstruction with a matching brick.

#architecture

#brickseries 007

Observed at a quick consult and repair recommendations site visit: masonry foundation wall with a deteriorated joist. Behind the rotted wood was... sand. Indicative of long term water infiltration.

#brickseries 006

Wriggling into the crawl space under a historic home to check out the foundation wall condition.

Places historic architects find themselves...

#brickseries 005

GREAT example of an "extruded" joint on a historic home... Next door to the mid-century home I was measuring for a new project!

#architecture #brick #masonry

#brickseries 004

Obviously brick that could use some love... But... This texture. 😍

#brickseries 003

Check out these raked joints on a historic Iowa home!

#brickseries 002

Sealant is never an appropriate substitute for a compatible mortar.