Chimney Stucco Repair Video

Chimney stucco must stand up to the most rigorous conditions facing any material on your home. Deciding when to repair and when to replace the stucco on an older home is the most important decision that needs to be made when deciding to perform a chimney repair. Watch this video for more information.

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Chimney Crown Repair Video

The most important part of your chimney is the chimney crown. Watch this video and learn how we solve chimney crown repair problems.
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Stone Wall Repair Video

Thousands of old stone retaining walls or stone structures are  deteriorating. Find out how we combat deterioration by watching our video on tuck pointing of a typical stone retaining wall. 
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Old Concrete Steps Resurface Video

Old concrete steps and porches can be dangerous for your health and those of your family. Check out this video of how we address deteriorating concrete steps and porches and  how we can re-surface your old concrete. Remember that replacement is always the first choice if you have the funds. We provide our re-surfacing service to help people keep their steps and porches safe for use but it is not permanent like ‘new’ concrete. Yes it will buy you some time but we can’t tell you how long it will last… to many variables.
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This porch foundation was crying for help!

One of the most common requests we get besides chimneys rebuilding, is for repairs porch foundation stucco repairs. Usually a corner of the porch foundation has ‘chunked’ off because of excessive water building up in the foundation. This comes from the porch runoff that usually goes down one side or another and constantly saturates a particular corner of the porch foundation stucco and ultimately causes it to fail. Read more

Getting it to blend is the tough part.

Trying to match any type of foundation stucco or foundation concrete is a very difficult if not impossible task. You just never know how the color blending of your mortars or cements for the foundation stucco are going to come out. You can blend your patch material until your hearts content but when it dries it just might end up being a little darker or lighter than you thought. Read more

Can you fix those ugly stains on my bricks?

We just finished a job for a customer and they were so pleased that they ask if we could fix the eyesore above their garage door.  Read more

This Cincinnati client had to repair his chimney twice!

In the Cincinnati area chimney repair has become big business with roofers, plumbers, electricians and even auto repair companies – all trying to ‘get in on the action’. Well that’s ok but there is something you should realize as a homeowner about a ‘chimney repair contractor’ who does not have the experience to know what to do… he can cost you BIG MONEY, especially here in Cincinnati! Let me explain why. Read more

How to tell if you have used bricks?

If you have used bricks on your home or business you probably know by now however some building owners may not. Though used bricks can be a blessing due to their beauty they may be a curse as well if you are not careful about your maintenance. 

Used bricks make for an excellent  colonial and traditional brick veneer application and have been used extensively for home building veneers but here’s the caveat, they are very soft and can deteriorate quite rapidly.

Exactly what are used brick? – Well, used bricks are basically just what their name implies. They are bricks salvaged from old building when they were demolished.  During the renovations of the ‘city centers’ across America in the ’70s & ’80s many older downtown buildings across the nation were demolished.

As a result of this extensive renovation there were millions of used bricks collected from the demolition debris and sold to building around the country at rock bottom prices, so became a much sought after commodity for builders during that period.

The color of used bricks can range from a typical red brick color, to many variations of orange, brown and black and even a pink-salmon color. They are very irregular in size due to the way they were made.

They often look as if they had been tumbled, (and they were when the buildings were torn down) are generally soft with rounded corners with chips and missing pieces. Most used bricks that were used as brick veneer on homes were salvaged from the back-up or interior masonry walls of the old downtown buildings.

Many have soot and paint on them as they were the interior walls of homes and offices or the inside of attics and chimneys.  It is one of the few bricks that blend perfectly with colonial and traditional architecture and provides fantastic eye appealing when used properly. They were used extensively in home building simply because they were cheap and plentiful

How can you tell if you have used bricks? – Since used bricks are irregular in shape they are easily recognizable from the curb or street because they have an ‘old’ and soft appearance. You take a screwdriver or any hard and pointed tools and scrape it along the surface of a used brick building and easily gouge the surface of the bricks.

A new brick wall on the other hand would be too hard, if not impossible to gouge and are regular and rectangular in shape due to the mechanized manufacturing processes that developed in 30′ and 40’s.  If you looked at a new brick building from the street it would have a more uniform and crisp appearance and look new.

How to look for damage in used brick walls? – Due to a used bricks inconsistent density they tend to deteriorate as individual units, unlike new brick which will deteriorate in sections.  As you walk around a home or building you may look closely for bricks that have a chalky, orange color to them.  Once you get used to looking for these you will notice them immediately and usually are the first to deteriorate.

A closer inspection of the wall will also reveal bricks that are ‘powdering’ which means that they turn to powder as they deteriorate.  You will see small pieces beneath the wall or where the ‘deteriorated’ brick is located.

Regardless of how the deterioration of used bricks is manifest, you should repair all the damaged used bricks that you find in a wall.  While inspecting the individual bricks for damage also look for cracks and loose or missing mortar.  Fill in any holes in the mortar that you find and repair any cracks.  This will go a long way to preventing excessive water from entering the wall.

After you have completed the repairs you are now ready for your final and most important preventive maintenance chore.

Seal your bricks! - There is nothing more valuable to your used brick building than a thorough, saturation application of high quality masonry sealer.  I cannot stress enough the importance of this step. Most used brick are well over 100 years old at this point and must be protected if you wish to preserve their integrity.

As you watch gallons of what we refer to as ‘liquid gold’ being sucked into your brickwork, remember it will protect those used brick and save you ongoing maintenance and repairs. It is the cheapest insurance that you can buy against used brick deterioration.

by Michael Olding

How to hire a tradesman…

If you are in need of hiring a tradesman these few tips will go a long way to making sure you get value for your money. With any project around your home or business you should have a clear idea of the work that you wish completed.  Nothing bothers a contractor more than a potential client telling them  “Well you’re the expert… you tell me what’s wrong!”

This type of attitude will get a home or business owner nothing other than an inflated price if he gets a price at all. Read more

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