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A young apprentice in Kansas City asked me why we still use lime mortar on old buildings
We were repointing a 1920s brick wall downtown, mixing a small batch. He watched me add the lime, then said, 'Couldn't we just use the modern stuff? It's faster.' I explained how the old bricks are softer and need the flexible, breathable mortar to prevent cracking. His eyes lit up when he felt the difference in texture. That simple question made me remember why I got into restoration work. What's the best way you've found to explain traditional methods to new guys?
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kai5641mo ago
Actually handing them the materials works best. I'll give a new guy a piece of old, soft brick and a chunk of hard, modern mortar. Tell him to scratch them together. When the brick gets all chewed up, it clicks. They see how the harder stuff just wins the fight and wrecks the old work. That physical proof beats any lecture from me.
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lunaw7210d ago
Exactly, that scratch test is GENIUS but also kinda savage when you think about it. Poor brick getting destroyed. @kai564 probably gets a weird thrill watching that happen, like some mad scientist with masonry. "MUHAHAHA, look at the old stuff crumble!" But seriously, it makes the point PERFECTLY. You can talk about compressive strength and thermal expansion all day, but watching a chunk of modern mortar literally eat a historic brick is a visual nobody forgets. I bet those new guys are terrified of the hard stuff after that. "No thanks boss, I don't wanna end up like that brick." Classic.
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blair_lewis851mo ago
Last summer in St. Louis, I had a helper who just didn't get the mix ratio. I handed him a trowel of our lime mortar and a trowel of a standard type S. Told him to slap them both on a board and come back in an hour. The type S was already a rock, ours was still workable. He came back and said, "Oh, so we can actually fix our mistakes." That hands-on test changed his whole pace for the rest of the job.
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