A century of weather has rounded the edges of a lot of Bronx brick. Pointing that ignores that, filling each joint right out to the worn face, leaves joints that look too wide and a thin lip of mortar that breaks away within a few winters.
Brick corners wear away slowly, and on older Bronx buildings many are now noticeably rounded. NPS Preservation Brief 2 addresses exactly that condition. Where the edges have worn, it advises setting the final mortar slightly back from the face, so the joint does not look wider than it is and no thin, fragile edge of mortar is left behind.
As a brick pointing contractor in the Bronx we look at the edges before deciding how a joint will be finished. Repointing in the Bronx often also means undoing earlier work, where mortar was spread over the worn face to make joints look full. That has to be cut back first, and it is never scrubbed off with a wire brush.
Four things that follow from pointing against edges that are no longer square.
Decades of rain, frost and grit round off the sharp edges a brick had when it was laid. On older Bronx elevations the gap between two bricks is now framed by curves rather than crisp corners.
Mortar brought all the way out to a rounded edge covers part of the brick as well as the gap. The joint then reads far wider than the real space between the bricks, and the Bronx wall looks coarser.
Where mortar spreads over a rounded corner it thins to a fine lip. NPS Brief 2 warns that such a featheredge is easily damaged and lets water in, which is why it is often the first part of new Bronx pointing to fail.
Following the Brief, the final mortar on worn Bronx brick is finished a little back from the face. The joint reads at its true width and there is no fragile lip to crack away.
Edges vary from one elevation of a Bronx building to the next and even within a single wall. How rounded they are decides how far back the finished joint should sit.
Where past pointing on a Bronx wall was carried out over the brick itself, that mortar is taken off before any new work begins. Wire brushes are never used, since NPS Brief 2 rules out metal bristles on old masonry.
The new mortar stops a little short of the rounded edge, so the Bronx joint shows its real width and leaves nothing thin enough to break away.
When the joints on an old Bronx building look unusually wide, the brick has usually not moved. The mortar has been carried out over rounded edges, often at an earlier repointing, and the thin lip it formed has started to crack. That is where water gets in now. Filling it again the same way repeats the problem. The lasting fix is to cut the old mortar back off the face and finish the new joint slightly behind the worn edge, the way the National Park Service’s own guidance describes.
Old face brick with worn edges runs through Fordham, Belmont, Morrisania, University Heights, Mott Haven and Kingsbridge, and the same care applies on almost every pointing job in the borough.
See brickwork contractor Bronx for our other brick work in the borough, or brick pointing NYC for how deep joints are cut and how they are filled.
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Usually because mortar has been carried out over the worn, rounded edges of the brick. It covers part of each brick as well as the gap, so the joint reads wider than it is. On older Bronx buildings this often dates from an earlier repointing done to the face.
It thins to a fine lip and breaks away. NPS Preservation Brief 2 describes this featheredge as easily damaged and a route for water into the wall. On worn Bronx brick it is often the first part of new pointing to crack, well before the rest of the joint.
Not where the edges have worn round. NPS Brief 2 advises setting the final mortar slightly back from the face in that case, so the joint shows its true width and leaves no thin edge to break. On old Bronx face brick that is usually the right finish.
Yes, and on many Bronx walls it has to be before repointing. Mortar spread over the face by earlier work is cut back carefully so the brick underneath is not damaged. Wire brushes are never used, since the National Park Service advises against metal bristles on old masonry.
Usually because it was finished over a rounded brick edge, leaving a thin lip of mortar that cannot hold. The joint itself may be sound behind it. On worn Bronx brick, finishing the mortar slightly back from the face avoids that edge and the cracking that follows it.
