My brother lives in a 100+ year-old brick colonial. The brick for his house, as well as two others nearby, was fired by the men who built the houses. (Pretty amazing. Some of us call ourselves DIY’s, but I doubt any of us would consider firing our own bricks.)
After standing for over a century, the brick on this house is so soft you could probably push a screwdriver right through one. Structurally, I think the house is sound. (Only because of the shear volume of bricks. Some of the walls are 22″ deep!) However, the bricks soak up so much water that you can hear it run through the walls. There’s also a problem around some of the windows where a brick will cumble away, Denny will replace the brick, then the new brick and mortar will eventlually fall away.
My brother has spent a lot of time repairing the mortar, but he has found no cure for the bricks themselves. He can’t cover the brick with siding of any kind because the brick won’t hold any kind of fastners.
Some guy came around a couple months ago and wanted to spray Thompson’s on the house. He was going to charge something like $3000. I told Denny that 1) I thought Thompson’s was worthless and 2) The house could soak up about 300 gallons of Thompson’s before it was saturated. He’s considering renting an airless sprayer and doing it himself. I’m trying to find a better alternative before he wastes (my opinion) his money.
So, any suggestions? Oh, one other “criteria”. He’d rather not paint the brick. I know what he means – I think painted brick looks pretty bad too. So UGL, or any product that would look like paint is going to be a tough sell.
Replies
There are products made for rotting wood that might do the trick.
Epoxy and/or polyurethane products. Thin stuff that will soak into something like soft bricks, then harden. Same as it does in rotten wood. This stuff is intended to give some structural integrity back to rotted wood.
Try this link. http://www.rotdoctor.com/
It can be fairly expensive.
I've encountered this problem before, but the bricks you're dealing with sound especially soft! Do not use silicone stuff like Thompsons- it's good for 6 months or a year, then... Check out a real masonry supply companies' sealer, one that reacts chemically after it's applied, to seal the brick BUT still allow any water that gets into the brick (and some will!) to evaporate- kinda like Goretex for brick. I don't remember the chemical name of the material, but several companies make sealers. It's a problem without a good solution, but you can ease the disintegration rate to one that's acceptable.
Linseed oil?
Linseed would help the surface only.
An epoxy designed for the purpose or a reactive masonry sealer similar to Lukas suggestion would be my choice but even that could have some problems with time eg. a solid exterior with a crumbling interior yields an unstable wall. I would call the experts at Arbatron to get their advice on what products they have for it. Seems that you would want something to penetrate deeply before it cures.
Amen to forgetting about Thompsons.
Excellence is its own reward!
Soft brick is a lot more porous than wood. Even rotted wood. The brick is more like a sponge.
The page that I referred to has products that will wick deeply into wood before it begins to cure and harden.
I totaly agree, you want something that soaks as far in as possible, before starting to harden. That was exactly why that particular company's product came to mind.
: )
"Some of us call ourselves DIY's, but I doubt any of us would consider firing our own bricks."
I've considered it, also considered building my own iron smelter: trouble is, EPA and King Co. WA. fines could bankrupt a billionaire these days - no way some self-appointed 'public gaurdian' wouldn't turn anyone trying in.
Ask Luka about 'self appointed guardians' - when I went to his place with a load of lumber last year, there was a place north of him against the river I thought maybe deserved to be condemned, it wasn't, but Luka's was - Luka original place was as good or better than my cabin (re: FHB- great moments, Nov 1990) which by the grace of God and real estate valuation is in Lewis and not King or Snohomish counties!
Art, I never realized that Great Moment was yours. One of my favorites.Andy Engel, The Accidental Moderator
What smells better then tobacco in the smoking department? Any guesses here?
Andy
It's not who's right, it's who's left ~ http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Such an obvious question - some of the young single guys' responses would likely get deleted, but how about waist high under the covers with your wife?
I suggest you check with some preservation types, I really don't think you want some random answer from the internet
That's why I suggested a phone call to Abatron experts. Luka is on the right track but there are products specifically developed for masonry work.
http://www.abatron.com/Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks for all the good advice.
A product that penetrates deeply then hardens is exactly what I've been hoping to find. I keep thinking that some kind of highly viscous epoxy would be the perfect solution, I just haven't been able to find such a thing.
I'll call the Abatron and Rotdoctor folks this morning. It's obvious from the websites that this is going to be quite expensive. Of course, reapplying Thompsons every six months would add up pretty fast :)
Thanks again.
The thompsons would barely pretend to waterproof for six months and do nothing structurally so it would be like having a beach barbeque bonfire with hundred dollar bills.
Good luck!Excellence is its own reward!