pm124

Thank you so much everyone. I did speak to his workers, and they said that the job was no different from any other. We speak Chinese and Spanish, and I think he is not used to his clients speaking to the workers. The workers were complaining to us about not having goggles or masks. They also almost fell a few times. I'm also not sure that he got the building permit. Even though he said he did, he did not produce it when requested. We only paid the deposit from the original proposal, about $5000. We haven't agreed to pay for this extra work. Would you in this situation? If we tell them we are only paying the originally quoted amount, they will definitely walk away mid-job. I can't say how lucky I am to have this forum. You all have been super helpful in all walks of brining an old house to life. Here are additional photos. Sorry about my terrible photography skills! https://goo.gl/photos/Vw3hw22oMtpHgnv87

Whoops. Technical error. He went from $7500 to $15,000. He said that the damage was "deeper" than in 99% of cases and that inner lintels needed repair. The pictures can be found https://goo.gl/photos/Vw3hw22oMtpHgnv87.

I have a contractor who gave a good price on lintel replacement and very much knows his stuff. He is using mortar that is softer than the brick, and claims to have sent the materials to a lab for testing all for $7000 for 6 lintels. This is in a 3 story construction brick 1925 house. When they opened it up, they found that the wall was 2 bricks thick and that the lintels were I-Beams that went through the entirety of the wall. He can handle this, but want to charge a *LOT* more. The question is, is this common? He said he has only seen this 5 times in his career? The guy seems like a really good guy, and is super smart and knows his stuff. Just want to verify.

Happy to be a brother! I will do my best to save my neighbors from that fate as well. Thanks so much for all of the advice. I'm on it. Peter

I posted here a few months back because I have rusting lentils that are delaminating and cracking the cement and even the bricks on the rear exterior of a 1925 construction 3 story home. I have contacted a number of contractors who are adamant about using acid wash, portland cement, sealing the house, sealing the lentils with caulk. In effect, everyone is bent on destroying my beautiful old house. What I haven't found is someone who said, "hey, we will match that mortar, find some old bricks, and restore your landmarked house without doing more harm than good." It's a mess out there. Shouldn't contractors be licensed for this kind of thing? OK, that wasn't my question. My question is: can anyone recommend a contractor? And if I do find one who is willing to use lime and sand between the bricks, is it possible to use mix newer and older bricks without further damaging the house?

Wonderful. Thanks again for the help. This is such a great service. And you probably saved all of these buildings. At this point, I will go to the neighbors and make sure all is addressed in the spring. The architects and contractors were top notch for these places even though they were built in the middle of a boom. The inspector thought that the foundation was ok. Not too many earthquakes in NYC.

Here is a link to higher resolution photos... https://goo.gl/photos/X3QtoVp3xjW9J58T9

Dear all, I recently posted about deteriorating lintels on a home. There are many homes built by the same contractor and the same developer and same architect in 1925 that are identical to this one. May have what looks to be deteriorating facade work of various kinds. I assume that since these houses are attached, that this is problematic. Would you buy a house if the neighbors looked like these? Is this an indicator of impending disaster? Or are these also just deteriorating lintels?

Xie Xie! Tong Zhi Xin ku le!

Thank you. Everyone. It is amazing that anyone in this business would use the wrong mortar to repair their house or seal in lintels if I--a total amateur--have learned this in a few hours on the internet. (I'm a human doctor, not a house doctor.) But I wouldn't have fully believed it if it hadn't been for you all. Thank you once again. You saved me tens of thousands on a repointing job, even if replacing the lintels will cost more than I thought. I will make sure it is done correctly.

Thanks much! So, only mortar repair (using appropriately soft mortar) on the deteriorated sections and open holes given this is more than 3/8". As for the lintels, I'm not sure whether they are salvageable. If this is push up from corrosion then maybe they can be somehow sanded and sealed? If the lintels are collapsing, I came across Thor-Helical masonry beams. Would something like that work? What might it cost to replace a lintel? This is an expensive, old, and landmarked house, so I want to make sure to do the right thing. (It's 1925 construction.) The inspector quoted $500/lintel. That seems low to me given that they have to cut the brick and take that thing out.

Sorry. For some reason, it would not let me upload the photos. Here is a link to the photos. This is the front of the house. You can see some deterioration below the windowsill. There is water damage on the inside. There is also an air conditioner that is often in that window, I'm told. Here is a close up of the deterioration: This is what most of the mortar looks like: Here you can see one of the lintels that is cracking the surrounding brick. This is the link to the whole album. https://goo.gl/photos/tF6nvM8xwEyWrcob7 Thanks so much for your help!

Dear Kurt, Thank you so much for your help. Here are some pictures.

I just bought a house built in 1925. Fortunately, no one has touched the mortar between the bricks. Unfortunately, someone did seal the lintels, and as a result, they are rusted and have produced cracks in the back wall. My home inspector advised me to repoint the entire house at the time that I replace the lintels. I'm not sure whether this is good advice. The mortar crumbles very easily, it is true, and is heavily oxidized. However, it is not receded from the wall. There are also places where people have drilled into the mortar at various places over the years, leaving holes. Beyond this, there do not seem to be any leaks or cracks. Should I follow his advice and re-point the entire house?