Does anyone else out there have old exposed brick in your house that seems to end up more on the floor than on the wall? Every other day I have to clean up the dust from the bricks themselves falling apart as well as from the mortar. It's slowly driving me mad.

I'm currently looking for a good mason, maybe someone in Fishtown to give me advice...do I keep the brick, and just repoint and clean it up, or cover over it?

Does anyone have experience re-doing/sealing/re-pointing thier brick on thier own?

A matte-finish water-based polyuerathane will do a nice job of sealing dry brick & mortar. Water-based uerathane acts like a glue, it will soak into the brick/mortar and bond to it, the matte-finish keeps it looking as natural as possible. It will have a "wet" look though. This should keep the dust down and reduce the crumbling. I think the only other option would be to re-point. I'd buy a small can, a pint, and try it in an inconspicous spot. It dries in a matter of 2-3 hours.

But shouldnt I clear off some brick that's about to come off?

For example when I vaccum up the dust, I'll vaccum the bricks directly and the faces of some bricks are cracked and they come off in my hand.

I also have some major holes in the mortar as well that need to be covered/filled in. Do you think that this is something that an amateur like me could do?

The problem with crumbling masonary is when you start trying to remove the "loose" stuff you sometimes find that there is no end. I'm not skilled with working with masonary, so I'm not sure if it's a do-it-yourself self job. Patching holes in the mortar shouldn't be too tough. Replacing loose bricks, that may be difficult.

We exposed a brick wall in our sunroom that was hidden behind a built-in bookshelf that hid deteriorating plaster over the brick. The wall had some water damage from a long time ago when they thought it was a brilliant idea to run the gutter pipe inside the walls. We repointed the brick, filled one major crack that ran diagonally from ceiling to floor, and polyurethaned it like hr mentioned. It looks great - adds a lot of character and the neighbors on the block have been asking about it.

Wow. Nice do-it-yourself job. Im impressed.

I do love the look of the brick alot. I think I just want to get a professional opinion before I go and proceed to renovate the 5 walls I have of it in the house.

Well, I am not a mason, but it sounds to me like you have ballist bricks
What I have always heard growing ip in Fishtown is that when the ships actually used to leave the area with goods, they would leave loaded up and return empty, but full of bricks to ensure even weight for the return home.
These bricks were then thrown along the shores of the Delaware where people took them and built houses.
Ideally you will have a combination of these bright orange bricks with the darker red, but some houses have all ballis.
We had an inside wall, really crumblung because of the bricks, there was really nothing to do, pointing can't protect or restore the composition if the brick, and sand blasting will really compromise it more as well as any kind of acid wash.
A waterproofing will help contain the brick outside, and if it is inside maybe a clear laquer.


Good luck, and like I said, this was what was told to me down through the years.

:rolling_:
Michelle

__________________
"Exceptional human beings must be given exceptional educational treatment."
Hans Asperger, 1944

If you seal something in paint or polyurethane, without allowing it to
gain and loose water you have problems. Water seepage over time removes ions and causes salt crystals to form - the salt crystals cause the brick to spall- become friable, crumbly like a cookie.


Basically a brick is a very think piece of paper. Basically, both are a mixture of clay and fiber- paper is mostly fibers with a clay surface that you write on, brick is mostly clay with fibers added for strength; but both share essential physical charecteristics-

Repairing water damaged brick is like repairing water damaged books-
you have to remove the water, not just seal it in, or you run into difficulty
later on because of the trapped water. When bricks dry out, the salts in solution form crystals - it's much like freezer burn from ice crystals makes bread crumble.

So, before you seal the brick, consider that - brick needs to "breath", just like the painted girl in "Gold Finger", a painted brick wall can't breathe and can suffer the consequences - it just doensn't have Shirley Bassey singing a theme song.

Hal

You should try to clear most of the loose mortar and brick. After that re-point the brick, either hire a mason or do it yourself. Be aware that re-pointing brick may sound and look easy but it is a very time consuming process. After the brick is re-pointed you should scrub it down with a "light" acid to remove the haze. I don't remember what its called but its not as strong as muriatic acid, DO NOT use muriatic acid, it will damage new mortar. After thats all done I recommend what others have said, seal the brick with shellac or you'll be constantly vacuuming brick dust. I have yet to see an exposed brick wall that is not sealed.

Send me a PM if you would like the name of a quality stone mason.

Hi,

Like I said, I am no Mason.
But I really would not suggest any kind of acid on the bright orange crumbly bricks


I learned the hard way!

:rolling_:

__________________
"Exceptional human beings must be given exceptional educational treatment."
Hans Asperger, 1944