The Tradesmen Group is both passionate and renowned for historic masonry restoration that aims to maintain a building's historical integrity while enhancing its safety and longevity. Our team has the specialized skills required to achieve the careful balance between preservation and practical improvements on these specialized masonry projects while following guidance by the Secretary of the Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
Removing deteriorated mortar joints and replacing them with new mortar is a process known as repointing. This work can be vital for preventing unwanted moisture infiltration that can cause substantial damage to a building’s interior. Our preservationists not only focus on matching original mortar formulas used in the restoration of mortar joints as closely as possible but also on the process by which mortar joints are tuckpointed, tooled, and cured to ensure new mortar joints perform and look as intended.
Improper mortar formulas can cause cracking or spalling of the surrounding masonry. Incorrect techniques in the removal process can do irreparable and irreversible damage to brick and stone units surrounding the joints. And, improper tooling can cause unsightly mortar smears and a poorly matched style of joint not fitting or matching to the adjacent masonry.
When it comes to historic masonry restoration, our experienced management team, tradesmen, and master artisan masons ensure the aesthetic nature of repairs, watertight integrity, and structural soundness of the restored masonry is appropriate, and all treatments meet or exceed the highest preservation industry standards.
TTG is guided by principles that masonry restoration is about preserving a piece of our shared heritage, celebrating the artistry of the past, and ensuring that these beautiful structures endure for generations to come.
We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.
Winston Churchill
Aging and exposure to the elements can cause a host of issues for historic masonry structures. TTG starts each project with an assessment of existing conditions. The Condition Assessment is then used to guide the selection of appropriate treatments for each distressed or damaged condition observed in the building. Treatments can vary in the level of intervention based on the goals, objectives, severity of distress, and budget for the project. The project scope is determined, and a budget is developed. Once the project is engaged, TTG’s skilled craftsmen execute repairs to address the unique conditions and challenges of each structure to give your building new life.
Our team will assess your historic building’s structural fitness to determine if further structural evaluation is needed by a licensed engineer and, from there, what repairs are necessary.
Stone, Brick and Terra Cotta Replacement, Dismantling and Reconstruction
Stone Patching and Fracture Repair
Dutchman Repairs
TTG will use our expertise in sourcing suitable matches for original masonry materials, including historic brick, stone and terra cotta. Replacement stone may involve sandstone, limestone, granite, or marble. TTG can replicate sophisticated architectural cut and carved stone, as well as unique one-of-a-kind architectural brick or terra cotta that is no longer produced today.
TTG artisan masons maintain and practice traditional masonry trade skills and techniques. We understand traditional mass masonry wall systems, material and mortar properties, and best practices for repair and restoration in accordance with National Park Service Preservation Briefs and preservation industry standards.
Careful selection and formulation of new mortar helps to preserve your historic building’s authenticity, watertight envelope, and structural integrity. Our mortar matching process involves visual and historical analysis, repointing, mortar compatibility, use of lime-based mortars, and attention to vapor permeability and strength proportions. Most importantly for aesthetics, new mortar must match the original mortar in color, texture, tooling, and finish.
Repointing
Masonry cleaning can be one of the most challenging aspects of a masonry restoration project. With varying types and degrees of soiling including atmospheric, biological, mineral or metallic, and efflorescence, combined with varying brick and stone substrates, selection of the most appropriate cleaning method can be very difficult. TTG commences every cleaning project by first identifying the types and degree of soiling and then conducting trial sample cleanings for the most appropriate treatments. Once the most appropriate treatments and level of cleaning are determined, wholesale cleaning is conducted utilizing industry best standards guided by the National Park Service Preservation Briefs and conservation grade standards.
Masonry Cleaning
Micro-abrasion Cleaning
Laser Cleaning
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