Discover the Charm of Outdoor Stone Fireplaces
We looked at this old outdoor stone masonry fireplace / grill, a while back. The particular masonry construction hasn’t been properly restored or maintained for years but it’s a terrific example of masonry, built the same way for hundreds of years, back to historic times. It’s an example of relatively typical randomized ashlar masonry, but the majority of the individual stones are set similar to rectilinear or unitized ashlar masonry, at least with an outer face that has been cut in a near planar shape.
In the much closer view of this chimney or fireplace / grill below, you can see some of the natural deterioration that happens, over time. Some of the joints have worn out and deteriorated and need at least spot repointing or tuck pointing at various isolated locations. As well, there’s spots where improper mortar has been applied years ago to do a type of repointing that’s similar to proper historic masonry pointed, like the typical type of brick repointing that we do all the time, but it’s not the same.
They used a hard mortar, they didn’t apply a stipple process, and didn’t strike or smooth the joints after initial application. These are all reasons that the difference stands out, visually. Also, because they used a modern Portland mortar, it doesn’t match the remaining adjacent mortar, in color or texture. The color and texture of historic mortar is generally more of a beige or tan color because of the color of the sand used, originally.
There’s often significant variation between one batch or application of mortar and the next, depending on the conditions and from one project to the next. When repointing is done in spots, the contractor should at least be cognizant of the structural characteristics of the mortar so that it is similar with the existing remaining mortar. This comparison and analysis of the structural characteristics is much more important or critical when repointing historic brick masonry.
Some other amendments or repairs have been made over the years. For example, you can see that at the base of the front of the chimney, below what is essentially like an elevated hearth, they have installed some CMU type cinder block. CMU cinder block is a modern alternative to stone, but it is really made from a concrete type slurry cast or extruded into a block shape.
They have installed the cinder block in front of what essentially is an exposed area of brick. In some cases common brick was used as a substrate, essentially hidden from exposed surface view, by finished type masonry or stone. Here it looks like they’ve pulled away some of the original stone and partially replaced it with cinder block. It doesn’t look like it’s done right or done well. Nonetheless, we benefit from seeing this exposed portion of the substrate because we can learn from the open area, sort of like a cross section or cut-away type view.
At this front face of the fireplace, you can see that the lintel used to support the brick, above the header of the opening, is extremely long. A header, at moderately large brick openings, when supported by a steel lintel, the lintel should extend several inches into either side of the opening so that it’s firmly seated and supported. Here though, they’ve extended it way farther than they needed to, almost out to the edge of the stonework. Extending it so far can cause a planar fracture or movement in the plains of the masonry which can eventually lead to failure.
This particular fireplace isn’t truly very historic, but we have found other examples of ruins of old stone buildings, in areas that are basically woodlands, while hiking around the DC metropolitan area. Some of the historic fireplaces in ancient stone buildings here are built very similarly. This happens to be in urban neighborhood though, outside of the downtown.
At a glance, it looks like the stone masonry used to build this particular fireplace is a mixture of both some hard granite stone and some sandstone, basically a hodge-podge mixture. Sandstone is a type of sedimentary rock that occurs basically throughout most of the world.
Particularly here in our area there are several examples of sandstone. Granite is also a type of stone that occurs throughout most of the world, but there’s actually a little bit less of the granite here in the DC area. DC is basically a lowland at the foot of the Piedmont region of the Appalachian mountains. Stone and rock like this is relatively common here in our area, but higher proportions of granite are generally found at higher elevations.
In the next picture below, you can see several omissions or voids in the mortar between the stones. For the most part, the stone itself has not significantly deteriorated. However, over the years the mortar has aged and deteriorated and should now at least be spot-repointed.
We can Help
Our company focuses on historic restoration more than modern building upkeep, maintenance, and construction, but our company understands both types of construction very well and a full picture well-rounded approach is needed in any niche in the construction industry. Although we focus on historic restoration, repointing, tuckpointing and historic brick repair, our company also has technical knowledge and competencies in the areas of modern and contemporary construction as well as we become one of the leaders in that area of the market today. Understanding both historic and modern or contemporary construction is useful because both aspects help understand the challenges and potential solutions for challenges in building science and construction.
We can help with a variety of historic masonry restoration needs and upkeep, from modest tuckpointing and or repointing to complicated and extensive historic masonry restoration. Infinity Design Solutions is a historic restoration specialist contractor specializing in both historic masonry restoration such as tuckpointing our repointing, and brick repair. If you have questions about the architectural details or facade of your historic building in Washington DC, reach out and say hello and if we can help we’ll be glad to assist you. You can email us or call us on the telephone at the following link: contact us here.
