On our blog in the past several weeks we’ve looked at several different examples of historic architectural details on masonry facades. Today we’re looking at another historic building with an incredible historic masonry facade built over 100 years ago. The masonry of this building is in need of desperate repair and since the building happens to be an old warehouse, the scale and size of the needed restoration and repointing or tuckpointing is immense. Beyond decorative embellishments, it is critical to maintain the fundamental integrity of the underlying brickwork itself. The outline of this two-part article of this case study follows below. This week we will discuss sections one and two, and in the coming week we will discuss sections three and four:
Architectural details of this particular buildingToday we’ll look at a case study of a 19th century warehouse and factory undergoing restoration of its weathered historic brick facade through a comprehensive repointing project. While decorative details fade and styles evolve, the structural stability afforded by conscientious repointing preserves these buildings for generations to come. The warehouse, originally built in the late 1800s, exemplifies the economical construction practices of industrial buildings at the turn of the century. The expansive exterior walls utilize common brick, a cheaper, mass-produced alternative to the more refined and durable pressed brick. Held together by soft, permeable lime mortar, the common bricks and simple flush-struck mortar joints form a functional, utilitarian skin befitting the warehouse’s original function. In recent articles and postings on our blog, we discussed the differences between the Flemish bond and the English Bond. In contrast, this particular building was built with a common bond, Unlike the common brick (which was cheap and quickly produced), the common bond isn’t exactly as simple nor necessarily cheaper or of lower quality than other bonds. In fact the common bond had a degree of intrinsic strength. The common bond was faster to build than the Flemish and English Bonds, but the common bond still had a traversing course of rowlock brick laid at intervals through a facade. This rowlock course, ties the structural axis together between two or more vertical wythes of brick. Over the past century, small piecemeal repairs to damaged areas resulted in mismatched bricks and mortar that detract from the facade’s historic cohesion. While the brick units themselves have survived relatively unscathed, deterioration of the weathered historic mortar joints threatens the wall’s structural integrity. The building’s conversion from warehouse to upscale residences has preserved its essence, but achieving longevity requires comprehensive repointing based on a nuanced understanding of traditional masonry components. Traditional lime mortar differs fundamentally from modern Portland cement mortars in several key ways. Historic lime mortar incorporates high volumes of lime which cures through slow carbonation. This results in a soft, porous material with low compressive strength but high plasticity, breathability and flexibility. In contrast, modern mortar achieves high strength rapidly through Portland cement’s hydration. While strong, the dense Portland mortar lacks permeability. This prevents moisture from migrating through evaporation, increasing spalling and decay risks to softer, historic bricks. It’s incredibly important for restoration contractors to understand these key principles. This sounds obvious and simple, but really every restoration contractor should have an extensive education on historic restoration methodologies, but the majority of contractors in the DC area lacking training and education in the basic principles of historic restoration. Questionable Past Repair QualityWhen deterioration threatens brick wall stability through deterioration of mortar over time, repointing programs can provide the care needed to prolong the life of a building. By comprehensively repointing distressed historic mortar joints with compatible materials and methodology, the fundamental weather-tightness and support functions of the brickwork may be restored. An overemphasis on cosmetic uniformity must not override deeper considerations of material integrity and breathability. In this article, we will explore a case study of the repointing and stabilization of a weathered 19th century warehouse and factory facade to illuminate the nuances inherent in sensitive preservation of historic brick architecture. A closer look it shows that the majority of the mortar joints are already significantly deteriorates with small voids at some locations and extensive voids at other locations. Tuckpointing or repointing is desperately needed. The expansive brick facade of the aging factory warehouse give a view back in time into the pragmatic amd basic historic brick construction methodologies prevalent in booming urban areas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With industrialization and manufacturing of mass produced brick on the rise, builders of functional factory and warehouse buildings benefited from the availability of cheaper common brick as an alternative to more refined and costly pressed bricks that built higher style front street facing facades. Set in soft lime-rich mortar, walls of common brick were laid fast, course by course successively laid to build functional buildings like this example. Common bricks have a comparatively low compressive strength and low water-resistance. These are poor performance indicators, compared to other types of bricks. But this didn’t matter much for simple, practical buildings that were meant to be built quickly and cheaply, not to last forever. It was what was abundantly available at the time of the building’s (and much of historic cities like Washington, DC) original construction. However, even though these are comparatively very low performance characteristics, these buildings have lasted for over 100 years and with proper repointing and tuck pointing and historic restoration they can last for many many decades more. These buildings focused on using affordable materials that could be put together fast, not on high quality masonry. Yet, although it was not high quality at the time, nor high performance materials today, this is the architectural history of the original American cities. We can HelpInfinity Design Solutions is a historic restoration specialist contractor specializing in both historic masonry restoration such as tuck pointing our repointing, and brick repair. If you have questions about the architectural details or facade of your historic building in Washington DC, reach out and say hello and if we can help we’ll be glad to assist you. You can email us or call us on the telephone at the following link: contact us here. <p>The post Old historic warehouse in great need of brick restoration – Part I of II first appeared on Infinity Design Solutions.</p> Via https://www.ids-dmv.com/masonry/old-historic-warehouse-in-great-need-of-brick-restoration-part-i-of-ii/
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About UsInfinity Design Solutions LLC (IDS) is a full service general contracting company in the heart of the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC. We focus on repair and renovation of buildings and facilities in both historic designated neighborhoods and the commercial-zoned central business district of the city. Follow Us
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