72
RENOVATOR’S TOOLBOX
Three-dimensional pattern on a late Victorian building in Park Slope.
and long faces of the brick. While plain running
bond has endured since the Greek Revival came
into fashion in Brooklyn from the 1830s through
the 1850s, in the last quarter of the nineteenth
century, there was an explosion of variations in
color, texture, shape, and pattern. In the 1890s,
dark red, brown, orange, and yellow brick created
picturesque streetscapes, and were superseded just
a few years later by paler shades, including gray and
cream. In the early twentieth century, variegated
and brown hues as well as decorative clinker bricks
emerged. A style known as tapestry brick covered
facades with geometric patterns such as diamonds
and basketweave using two or more colors of brick,
such as brown, dark gray, and cream.
Ideally, brick facades will be maintained using
the same materials. The older the brick, generally
the softer it is, and modern mortars will cause it
to deteriorate. When repointing brick to replace
crumbling mortar (typically needed every twenty
to forty years) on an older building, ideally the
original mortar will be tested in a lab and custom
mixed to get precisely the right combination of
strength, texture, and color. But if lab testing is not
possible, use a weak type-N mortar, advises Coburn.
If one or more bricks need to be replaced, it is possible
to have an exact match custom made. ConSpec
Associates of East Haven, Conn., for example, can
make as few as five to as many as 10,000 or more
bricks for historic restorations. There is a $50 fee for
matching and typical prices start around $10 a brick
for fewer than 30 units but in large quantities the
price “drops dramatically,” says ConSpec president
and historic masonry expert Patrick Morrisey.
Painting brick or adding a clear waterproof coating
-- even one formulated to be breathable -- is generally
not advised because it can trap moisture and
cause the brick to deteriorate, according to the National
Park Service’s preservation guidelines. (One
exception is structures built with weak brick before
the mid-nineteenth century that were intended to
be protected with natural, breathable milk paint or
lime-based whitewash.)