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thatwallsgottago-blog · 8 years ago

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With Each Hole in the Wall

The blog has fallen silent for a few months but the work has gone on so while I've been regretfully distracted from This Walls Gotta Go updates that hasn't meant I've taken time off of the actual, physical work on the project. It never stops! I live among the wreckage of my crumbling castle in the heart of Fishtown, Philadelphia. That said, with every step in the renovation process, repairing a brick wall or framing the third floor bathroom for example, I see the light flickering at the end of the tunnel. I see the possibilities of what these walls will offer in the future: comfort, protection, warmth, family and friends, etc. and it reminds me why I took on this project in the first place. It is exciting and sometimes overwhelmingly painful when you've been pushing Roxul insulation between ceiling beams for six hours at a time. So much depends on a days work, the rate of progress, and how much muscle was needed!

One of the biggest skill-sets I’ve been developing is certainly my old-school, masonry expertise. This is the first brick house I’ve ever lived in so it is a specialty that my family and I are learning about as we go along. My parents had actually taken an workshop at Lime Works (www.limeworks.us) in Quakertown, PA several years ago on the traditional use of hydraulic lime mortar. So up their alley! These workshops are primarily created to share the traditional methods and techniques that are, more often than not so much better than modern materials. The skills involved in using these time-tested materials have often been lost on younger generations as cheaper, faster, more readily available options are more easily found at Home Depot.

After a quick tutorial from my dad, I shot to the top of my very, very small class of one and consider myself a sub-par, sloppy professional at this point. I managed to get a handle on the process pretty quickly but certainly have much to learn in regard to the final finishing work. I’m getting there though and what matters is the end result sometimes and not exactly how tidily you get there.

The first project was reinforcing the walls on the 3rd floor that had begun to crumble in places. The biggest surprise here was actually the poor condition of the old plaster walls and not the brick walls behind them. The major concern was the quarter brick wall that so much of what I’ve written about so far has focused on. I had not expected it to exist at all but once a solution was found to stabilize what lay beneath it, the design impact of such a wall was rather charming. Or could be. Or would be once I re-pointed and restored it.

With the removal of the chimney, the first serious lesson in mortaring became evident. The water damage in this area of the wall was rather serious. It was obvious that water had crept in and deteriorated the bricks around the chimney for countless years. With the chimney removed, I got a nice view of the gapping hole that existed that should not have existed in your average, normal, healthy wall. Time to get busy. Time for lime mortar!

Last year, if you asked me what the steps would be to address this, I would certainly not have had an answer for you. Certainly not an educated answer. Now, I’ll chat your ear off about lime mortar and all the repair work I’ve done and practice I’ve had on this fixer upper. My mastering of this age-old skill and my oh, so beautiful repairing of brick after brick after brick has been a pretty awesome, if not grubby, dusty, graceless process on my part. Luckily, most of my handiwork will never be seen by anyone as it is primarily repair work that will be hidden behind a layer of Roxul insulation and new drywall. This is a good thing as it gives me time to practice and yes, get messy, and not worry about the visual appearance of an exposed brick wall for example. That will come later!

Next I will share my not-so-secret but personally tested recipe for lime mortar and why I like using this material. Stay tuned.

#house #home #homesweethome #repair #mortar #renovation #hardwork #diy #doityourself #interior #homeimprovement

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