Masonry Magazine August 2007 Page. 18
Restoration
According to Andrew deGruchy, president of deGruchy Masonry Inc. and LIME WORKS™, a specialty materials supply company in Quakertown, Pa., since restoration and renovation work focuses on the details, all jobs-regardless of the size-come down to this meticulous work.
"Every job we do is a small, intensely detailed job," he said. "We put out bids from $10,000 to $1 million, but even the largest project really breaks down to concentrating on what the requirements are for restoring some detail of historic masonry; therefore every part of each job is small."
Blending the Old with the New
MATCHING MORTAR on a newly repaired section of a building with the existing mortar remains one of the biggest challenges that mason contractors face. Some masons applaud the work of mortar companies for making an extensive line of mortars that will match nearly every color.
"The great thing these days is you have a lot of custom mortars made," Niewiadomski said.
At the other end of the spectrum, many masons prefer to make their own mortar. For instance, deGruchy completes a mortar analysis and then duplicates the original mortar in color, composition, texture and tooling to match the surrounding mortar. He also makes sure that the new mortar is compatible with the bedding mortar.
"Matching mortar colors is pretty tough," said Oatman, who also mixes his own mortars. "Some companies claim they can match mortar perfectly. I have yet to see that."
He starts by making a mortar sample, which he tests on a two-foot by two-foot section of the wall in a conspicuous area so it's easy to see.
"We do a lot of sample testing. I'm not going to say we get a 100-percent match; I encourage 100 percent, but we get as close as we can," he said.
Stained to Match
ONE SOLUTION for matching mortars, or matching brick, is to stain the wall. Stain can match the new to the old, the old to the new, or completely change the color of the entire wall.
"When you build an addition, the new brick will not match the existing brick; the color may be slightly off, so we come in and match the brick," explained Jennifer Schilpp, office manager of Color Match Masonry in Baltimore. "It's very cost-effective, compared to when you have repairs done."
Stains also can fix walls damaged by improper cleaning, pressure washing or removal of graffiti, Schilpp said.
Steve Homolka, senior vice president of BrickImaging Inc. in Fort Collins, Colo, agreed, noting that staining can add a single color to a wall, or multiple colors to match a pattern.