BobVila.com

Bob visits the Sumner Mansion with UVM professor Tom Visser to learn more about the proper restoration and preservation procedures for an antique brick home. The original early 1800s brick has been sandblasted - removing the outside fire skin of the brick to reveal the soft inner core - leaving the brick permanently damaged. The only option now it to re-point it up and re-paint it. Care should be taken with masonry sealers as they can often trap moisture in the wall and lead to accelerate spalling of the bricks. If you have paint on old brick walls, your best option is to use a commercial paint remover such as a caustic soda, a Peel-Away type product, or even a solvent-based stripper. As for repairing the mortar, very often people patch and re-point using a Portland Cement mortar. This is not a good choice as it stands out like a sore thumb and is too hard for the bricks - putting stress on them and causing them to fail. To select the right mortar to use, loosen a sampling of the original mortar with a mason's chisel, crush it with a geologist's mortar and pestle, and then dissolve the lime binder with household distilled white vinegar. What will settle in the bottom of your jar is the sand from which the mortar was originally made. You can then take the sand to a mason and match its color and texture and make up new lime and sand mortar to match the original.

Bob and the mason discuss the chimney. Pointing out that we have two flues, one for the boiler in the basement and one for the wood stove. By code, the ceramic flue liners need to be surround by at least four inches of solid masonry (the chimney). The mason tells Bob how they are going to attach the pipe from the wood stove to the flue. Then the mason shows how easy it is to cut a four-inch cement block with a hydraulic jack. The mason and Bob then discuss the supports for the hearth, including a concrete table and a blue stone finishing floor.