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Saw a 200 year old chimney in Salem last weekend and the mortar joints blew my mind
Took the family up to Salem MA last Saturday for the day and ended up walking past a house built in 1804. The guy who owns it let me peek at the chimney from the roof hatch since I told him what I do for a living. Those old brick joints had a rake to them, almost like a weatherstrike, that I have never seen on anything from this century. Anybody here ever run into that style on old New England work, and do you try to match it or just lay a normal joint?
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wesleyshah2d ago
Man that is such a cool find. I feel you on the frustration of trying to match old work though, because you just can't fake that raked look with modern tools and mortar mix. I ran into something similar on a place from the 1820s and ended up trying to match it with a homemade jointer stuck in a piece of wood. It took forever and honestly it still wasn't quite right, but the owner appreciated the effort. Part of me says just lay a normal joint and move on, but the other part hates covering up something that's been sitting there for two centuries. It's a tough call and I don't envy you having to make it.
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