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Am I the only one who thinks that brick wall outside the courthouse in Dayton should've been torn down
Was down at the Montgomery County courthouse on 3rd Street watching a crew repoint the old wall, and I noticed the joint work is sloppy on half of it. They're using a grinder to cut out joints instead of chisels, and you can see the spalling on the soft old brick near the corner. Everyone acts like these old civic walls are sacred, but I'd rather see a wall done right than a wall kept because of when it was built. Has anyone else worked on these old 1900s public buildings, and how do you handle telling the owner the wall needs more than a patch?
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grantt392m ago
Boy, you nailed the part about cutting joints with a grinder. On soft brick like that 1900s stuff, a grinder just tears the face off, and once the face is gone the brick soaks water and starts to crumble. A mason with a plugging chisel and a hammer takes longer but keeps the edges clean and the wall stays put. Taking your idea further, I'd take photos of the spalling and the sloppy joints and walk the owner through what a full repoint costs now versus what a rebuild runs in five or ten years. Most owners listen when they see the numbers side by side. Been my experience that folks respect a straight answer more than a fast patch.
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