Mortar and brick and stone

We have had a relatively mild week for the first week of Winter.  For the upper Midwest that means highs above freezing and lows in the upper 20s!  Christmas day was lovely, we even saw the sun!

The weather and the holiday season has really put a strain on the schedule, however, Mark and Robert, the masons, were awesome braving the elements and were able to make great progress!

After a few false starts, Mark & Robert were able to tent the back and east sides of the house.  They were able to get natural gas to the heater that would keep both the mortar and the masons warm while they re-laid the brick on the outside walls.

The back of the house prepped for brick.

A peak inside the tent.

This method of having to tent the work space is not the most efficient.  Brick and stone need to be cut outside the immediate work space.  Only small batches of mortar can be mixed at time to prevent an entire batch from freezing.

Robert is mixing one wheelbarrow worth of mortar.  They are using bags of premixed mortar, not their preferred method of having a load of sand dumped at the end of the driveway and they make up their own batch.  With the drop in overnight temperatures the sand will freeze, not allowing them to make what they need.  Yes, this is more costly, but it does allow them to work in freezing weather.

Finished brick on back of the house.

The new brick on the addition extends the line of the brick on the existing structure.  We made the height break at the new back door.  The brick will wrap around the east side of the addition at this new height.  Because there was not enough existing brick to wrap the entire new addition and because we wanted to tie the new and the old together by sharing some of the same elements so the addition did not scream, “this is an add on!”, we dropped the height of the brick on the east side so we could use up as much brick as possible.

Finished brick on the east face of the new addition.  It’s about 3 feet high.

The masons did a great job of matching the existing grout and joint lines with the old brick that is remaining in place.  I think their installation is far superior to what was already there!

After wrapping up the brick work, the masons moved on to the stone work on the front face of the addition.

Prepping for stone.

In addition to the Tyvex house wrap, a layer of felt paper was added as extra moisture protection.  We are using a veneer stone that averages around 2″ thick.  It does significantly reduce the cost of material over using a 4″ to 6″ stone. With this application, a wire mesh is installed over the felt, and then a scratch coat of mortar is troweled on over the mesh.  The wall is ready for the stone to be adhered to it.

On December 18, Mark and Robert showed up ready to start the stone work, promising they would be finished before Christmas eve on the first column of stone.  They were concerned that the front steps they would be covering with their tent, would be gone for any guests coming to visit for Christmas!

Our house looked like this for 6 days.  At least it would make the neighbors think we were making progress!

What I enjoyed about this tent was that it covered the work space right outside my office window!  I took the screen off the window, opened the sash and sat on the window sill to observe up close the meticulous work the masons were performing!  The veneer stone, is still stone.  It does not come in several exact sizes, there are many shapes and sizes that have to be carefully chosen and placed so the stone maintains a level line as it moves up the wall.

The view from my perch!

Mark and Robert were so kind to let me watch and ask my questions.  I really did not know very much about stone work until now.  I am amazed how much artistry and patience is involved.  Because they were working in the cold and damp, there were extra steps needed to make the wall of stone. Had it been warmer and drier, the mortar would have naturally dried out on its own as the water evaporated into the air.  With our weather, the mortar at this stage above is very soupy and not able to dry out.  Mark has this amazing blow torch (Aaron called it a ‘Flame Thrower’) he is using to dry out the mortar.  He can not go on to the next step until the mortar is much stiffer.

Striking the joints.

With what looks like a dental tool and a brush, the masons are striking the joints…getting rid of the excess mortar and creating even depth mortar joints.  They had to have spent several hours each day on this piece of the process making the final work of the day look perfect!

End of Day 2.  This is slow, tedious work.

End of Day 3.  I can’t talk to Mark anymore, he has moved up the scaffolding!

December 23…the reveal!

The masons were able to move their tent and scaffolding off the front stairs before Christmas eve as promised.  The wood block is the space left for the light fixture that will be installed when the electrician starts his work.

There are still many elements needed to complete the exterior, but we are so happy with the outcome of the many hours of labor put in by many of our trades people.  We hope they have had a wonderful holiday with family and friends.  We wish them a happy and prosperous 2015 and look forward to working with them in the New Year.

December has flown by!

I can confidently claim that December is my busiest month of the year, as well as for all the subcontractors who would normally be working on my project but are busy elsewhere.  From mid November to the day before Christmas Eve or Hanukkah (sometimes even the day of) designers, contractors and owners are rushing to finish the project they started earlier in the season before the extended family joins the client for the annual holiday meal.  I have a kitchen remodel project wrapping up for a client that still requires the services of the electrician and the appliance installers arriving the morning of Christmas Eve to install the range hood!

The last three weeks have seen many days when the thermometer peaked above 32 degrees giving my mason and my contractor, Steve, to accomplish some significant projects!

Last week Steve and Eric moved the windows from the temporary storage in the garage into their permanent locations in my exterior walls:

The windows arrived the week after Thanksgiving

18 windows and 1 French door arrived intact!

While I was working in an architecture firm in New York, we had several projects that fell under New York City historic preservation rules.  One issue was always the windows.  How do you replace old historic windows with new thermal double pane glass and still maintain the narrow width of the muntin bars that created a true divided light?  One problem was the seal at the end of the glass was too wide to be covered by the molding of the muntin.  The other was making the muntin strong enough to carry a heavier piece of glass in such a narrow piece of moulding.  As a custom firm, we were well suited to design custom windows to accomplish the guidelines set, but at a cost to the client.  I do not remember how we started using Marvin windows, but their design and efficiency was acceptable to the Historic committee.  With an option to be totally custom, we were able to specify them and I became a fan of their quality and flexibility in design.

When it came to the windows in my own house, I of course, looked to Marvin first.  We started replacing window several years ago, one or two openings at a time.  We had single pane, true-divided light (small individual pieces of glass between all the muntins) double hung, 50-year old windows badly in need of replacing.  Because our brick openings were set, standard size windows were hard to fit without adding a lot of padding around them to make them fit in the openings.

So I used a mix of Marvin standard size (they come in 2″ increments) combined with a custom size to create exactly the size and design to fit the existing opening.  Once I started this, I was committed to continuing using the same manufacturer to make sure all the windows matched.  After hours of whittling down sizes and eliminating windows, I finally arrived with an acceptable design that fit into the budget we established.  We chose to replace most of the windows with a clear windowpane, no muntins, casement type unit.  These are hinged on the side and have a crank that allows them open out, like a door.

We couldn’t get over how the replacement windows looked so much larger than the old windows they replaced.  We are very pleased!

The new window in the Mud Room

New upper windows on the front of the house.

New windows at the back of the house

A Crisp Cold First day of December

It’s hard to believe it is already December.  We began our project cleaning out the garage over the 4th of July holiday weekend.  The landscape has definitely been transformed.  Our neighbors are commenting on how much they like the massing of our house with our new addition.  They are also asking when do we think it will be done?

The weather has not been kind to our schedule.  Last week was Thanksgiving and we had bitter cold temperatures.  Although we had a brilliant 50 degree day on Saturday, most of the crew was spending time with the their families.  I imagine them taking walks on Saturday burning off the calories consumed with the holiday feast!

We did have a few brave souls make appearances until frostbite threatened to thwart them.

Al and Orlando made some headway with the rough plumbing.  This is a phase I always warn my clients about: it can be very discouraging!  Rough electrical falls into the same category.  You see and hear them, busy cutting something, hammering something else.  And though they spend the whole day, when they leave at the end of it, your inspection doesn’t seem to find anything exciting or beautiful to behold!

Orlando at work.

Orlando and his boss, Al, were here several days cutting lots of PVC pipe, drilling holes through floor and ceiling joists and cutting out whatever was in their way.

The drain for the new small bath

The plumbers were able to work inside my house more than in the frigid addition.  They spent most of their time disconnecting old plumbing and creating new connections for the Laundry room that is moving upstairs, and the new bath in our old master bedroom.  And this is what I see, new drains and vents!

Last week Mark, the mason, was here to prep for stone and brick installation.

Bricks are set up and ready to be installed!

The stone for the face of the garage was delivered. Mark and his partner lugged the bricks that Aaron had cleaned last July back to where they started!  The machine that mixes the mortar was dropped off, a good sign that they will be staying on my job.  After a few hours, they left.  It was too cold to start.  They would have to wait until Monday

This morning the temperature was 12 degrees, with a windchill of 0.  But, I have had a surprising amount of visitors!

Mark did return with the noble thought they would be able to start today.  They would need to tent the work zone so it could be heated and the mortar would be kept from freezing until it had a chance to set up.  Steve arrived to move his gas-powered heater that was keeping the new slab in the garage from freezing, out to where Mark was starting the brick installation.  A perfect plan with only one hitch, the gas line is too short to get to where Mark needed it.  Al has ordered a new 1-1/2″ gas pipe to become the permanent conduit of gas into the house and out to the future natural gas-powered generator.  It won’t be ready for Al to pick up until tomorrow.  It would have solved the problem of a too short flexible hose.  So Mark left, promising to return tomorrow with a propane heater he can use in his tent.  And Al will be back on Wednesday to install the new permanent gas line!

Bill McNutt, the electrician I have worked with for years, also stopped by today.  We chatted briefly about sleeves for the low voltage lighting and who was going to install those sleeves.  I don’t think we came to a conclusion.  I  will have to remember to revisit the topic with Mark and Steve when they return.  Bill did install electrical boxes for a future light and duplex outlets that will be on the exterior of the house, but will be embedded in the brick. They are in place for Mark to work around.  It was cold, so Bill didn’t stay long!

I also waved at Russ and Ken, the carpenters.  They were here to measure the house for siding, soffits and fascia boards. They were too busy this fall to put together a bid for us for labor and material.  But today, of all days, they found time.  They were probably wishing they had made time when it was still 60 degrees!  They were not here very long either.

Steve and Eric were also here, as I mentioned above.  Steve wanted to confirm the rough opening sizes for all the windows that will arrive tomorrow, finally!  They, too, have left.

The rest of this first week of December looks promising.  The weather report is hinting that every day this week we should top out above freezing.  Just barely, but the difference below 32 and above it is amazing!

I have come to believe I am being prepared for all future projects with my clients.  I think I will have experienced every possible delay imaginable which should make me a very empathetic hand-holder for anyone brave enough to take on a remodeling project of their own!