Masonry

In the historic neighborhoods of Washington, DC and Capitol Hill, there are many historic brick and masonry buildings with ivy growing on the exterior facades.  Our clients often ask for our advice on the pros and cons of ivy vines on building walls.  It’s not… Read More »Ivy Growing on Masonry Building Facades

Enjoy some of our latest tuckpointing and masonry restoration work! We love what we do and we love how happy our clients are even more! Give us a call today if you live in or around the Washington, DC area and need any type of… Read More »Recent Masonry Restoration Photos

A kneewall is very similar to a retaining wall, and both are common elements in site hardscaping construction. In some cases retaining walls can also be knee walls, especially where they continue above the adjacent upper grade of land. In the photo below the sandstone… Read More »Rubble & Dry Stack Rock Kneewalls

There are several different types of masonry bonds. Some of the most prolific ones are the running bond and the common bond. In DC we will also often see other types of masonry bonds such as the Flemish bond and once in a while we’ll… Read More »Square Bond Brick and Block Masonry

This historic stone building is built with large span walls.   The stones used in the construction of this building are cut to a rectilinear type of shape and are therefore considered an ashlar masonry.   This wall is large and not connected with perpendicular… Read More »Corbelled Buttress Wall Support

In the late 19th century and the early 20th century when much of the buildings in the historic areas of DC were built, many alley buildings were built for industrial purposes. They worked both as carriage houses and had lofts that could be used for… Read More »Historic Lucarne Doors

We love  tuckpointing work! Knowing that our work will keep these walls looking great and staying together for years to come is really satisfying. This was a recent tuckpoingting job that was done on Acker Pl Ne in DC. We hope you enjoy the photos… Read More »Acker PL NE Washington DC Tuckpointing Job

When tuckpointing companies cut corners to save time and make more money, the end result is one that will not last! We see examples of what we call “SCAM POINTING” more often than we should, by other contractors.  It’s a bad practice, and it should… Read More »Scam Pointing and Why it is Bad

Most historic buildings in Capitol Hill, and other parts of Washington, DC have exterior demising walls, above grade that were originally just built with a double brick wythe wall. Normally there is a 3 step application of non-portland traditional plaster coating on the inside of… Read More »Embedded Wood Nailers in Historic Brick Walls