Archive for June 2019

There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of tuckpointing if you’re the average person on the street.

If you’ve ever walked by a brick wall, you’ve seen efflorescence. You might not have known the word for it, or even that that’s what it was, but you’ve definitely seen it. It’s that chalky white powder that builds up on masonry over time.

What do St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Acropolis, Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, and a badly-maintained parking garage have in common?

If you’ve looked at any old building recently, chances are you’ve noticed that the mortar joints are set back further into the wall than the joints on a newer building. Receding mortar is a natural process, but it’s a real problem for older buildings or buildings that haven’t been maintained.