Recapping
briefly, my first pig's ear had weeping mortar. And what made it a
larger issue in the eyes of many was that it had been painted, greatly impacting the impression of this bricklaying. This was my first exposure to this style of masonry,
and I wasn't sure how to deal with it.
As I
mentioned in a previous post, one visitor suggested I grind it all off, that I
rake the joints. However, I knew this was more work than I wanted or needed to
bite off. Since this house had been condemned, a livable situation that was a
casualty of an out-of-control dryer fire, I had a long list of pressing scopes
of work. And the clock was ticking since I’d agreed to a twelve-month timeline
with my lender. Even if I could have connected with someone willing and able to
carry out this task, it would have certainly wrecked my limited budget.
Raking the
weepers myself wasn't an option. First off, flying solo grinding out joints
that totaled nearly two miles would have worn me out. And I was hesitant about
my ability to estimate the time (or pricey blades and bits) the grinding/raking
approach would have required. Nearly everything about this option was
unappealing. At this point in my career, I had years of construction experience but not much logged in residential work. Although I was curious, I
knew in my heart (and gut) that starting down the raking path was a
mistake. More than intimidated, I was certain I must avoid opening up what
would be a huge can of worms.
If you look
at that picture again, keep in mind that I was dealing with this amount of chipping
times a little over forty, greater than two thousand square feet. But as I mulled
it over for several days, I became more comfortable with chipping it off as my
best remedy.
Rather
than jumping in, I decided to do a small sample area on the back side of the
house, just to see how long it took and then ultimately looked. I did about two
square feet in less than five minutes. Plus, I was surprised by how much I liked
the textured joints this chipping created, and to me, it was better than the painted
weeping mortar I currently had.
Two thousand
square feet seemed immense until I arrived at my plan to break it all up into bite
sized sections—twenty-five square feet at a time. I estimated that each would take
around thirty minutes, adding up to about forty man hours. I built myself a 4’x8’
cubed scaffold to work the top half of the façade and fell into a daily groove.
Then, I’d slide the box frame into place for the next day and move onto some
other work on my list.
This no-power-tool
approach wasn’t difficult, there was minimal dust, and I settled in on one five-by-five-foot
area each evening after work, then double or tripled up on weekend days until
it was all knocked out.
A month after starting, the end result was unique. I found it distinct and tasteful, contrasting
with what I’d inherited at the closing. It felt like progress while the rest of
the house was still looking pretty rough. And in a small town full of doubters,
I began to win over a growing group of interested observers.Links to recent posts on weeping mortar:
Embracing Weeping Mortar - July 13, 2026
Moving Beyond Weeping Mortar - July 20, 2026
Grinding or Raking Weeping Mortar Joints - July 26, 2026
