Chipping Off Weeping Mortar

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.

I had an issue that needed a solution and eventually landed on chipping off all the weeping mortar. The picture above shows approximately fifty square feet of joints or 250 lineal feet. If I tried to rake all these joints, besides the time and cost, I would have had to take precautions so I wasn't breathing in grit during the hours of work I would be taking on. And I'd be faced with pushing through unavoidable fatigue, battling the chance that the grinder might get away from me and either damage bricks, or jerk into the wooden shutters or the frieze board under the soffit.  

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

Moving Beyond Weeping Mortar

I know what it’s like to own a home with weeping mortar joints. Furthermore, I get how it feels to have neighbors and visitors who are less than enthusiastic about this look. Not only can this sort of façade be polarizing, but time can also make it an issue homeowners feel compelled to address, especially after hearing people groan, say, “Ew! Yuck!”, or even ask with genuine sincerity, “What do you think they were trying to do here?” as they stare at your solidified ooze.

In my previous post I explained how someone might consider Embracing Weeping Mortar. But here, I’ll introduce two other options.

I suspect that the group of renovators who can say, “I want to grind out or chip off all the joints of my brick house!” is a small club. And it would be wonderful to imagine the possibility of waving a magic wand and having your sloppy joints disappear. But real-life solutions beyond sorcery do exist.  

Let’s say that you’re like I was, finding yourself in a situation where you feel as if you absolutely must deal with a weeping mortar situation. Besides mine—a painted brick house where the uniqueness of this style has been eclipsed—I can think of another circumstance that would make this condition tougher to ignore much of these joints being damaged badly.

Perhaps over time, a multitude of chunks have been victimized by Mother Nature and her weaponized freezing and thawing. Or maybe someone started yanking off invasive vines, and in doing so they accidentally broke off large sections of the weeping mortar.

What now?

If these joints have been damaged, I supposed there are ways to repair or make these no-longer-uniform spots less noticeable. However, if the area(s) of concern is/are widespread, other measures may be taken. For one, grinding out the joints and replacing them with fresh mortar is one possibility. Or as I did, you can chip them off.

Certainly, I suppose there are ways of patching and repairing the damage. But there are two huge issues with this. First off: cost effectiveness. And secondly, a big question: Will the repair work end up being more noticeable that the damage looked before mitigation or corrective measures were taken? I believe this is highly likely.

Because of these practical considerations, I will go on to explore two other options in detail.

Grinding or Raking Weeping Mortar Joints – July 26, 2026

Chipping Off Weeping Mortar – Coming Soon

Contractual Limitations with Large Implications - Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 63

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 1 - January 23, 2026

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 62 - June 15, 2026 

I hope it’s been made clear, that although I’ll admit to having a solid grip on how to renovate a jacked-up house, I’m not one to claim to have the recipe for success. At this point, I’ve lived a lot of my life recognizing it as an adventure that comes with scars in many forms. Rather than a world beater, I understand how I’m stepping into something else, the end of my life’s autumn when it’s time to share and encourage.    

This series began with me answering questions while offering insight into pitfalls to watch for. The intention was to inspire along with educating by way of owning mistakes. I’m not quite done with this progression of responses, but I’m approaching the landing strip that’s surely up ahead past the clouds.

At the end of 2015, I had a renewed chance to do some noteworthy work: renovate three houses in Charleston, South Carolina with film crews documenting the efforts before producing another series telling three stories. Each project would span multiple episodes. These yet-to-be-determined homes would be in rough condition, with me leading the way in bringing each back to life.

Conservative math worked. Buying a house others don’t want often equates to undervalued asking prices. Costs to rehab are inexact, but experience allowed me to remain steadfast. There would be margins that contained indeterminable profit. And the carryover was potentially even greater; more opportunity, a future of interesting projects working with talented people, and also a larger platform to help aspiring DIYers see and better understand how they could take on a left-for-dead house near them, and against the odds, breathe new life into it.

Getting to where I needed to wouldn’t be easy, there were crevasses ahead, and it was my responsibility to bridge these gaps and inspire others to do the things within their reach.

I had savings to invest for earnest money on short term loans but was well short of what this moment called for financially. I needed investors or lenders. This was no shock to my system, nor my wife’s. We each knew this from the day the programming director said, “We need you to buy three more houses for next year.”

When you renovate property that’s condemned, abandoned, or seemingly unwanted, you need a find-a-way, make-it-happen attitude. I’m not sure how else to push through. Faith and optimism equal needed fuel. In renovation, like throughout the construction industry, people tend to shy away from a four-letter word like can’t.  

So even though I knew the assignment was daunting, I’d been conditioned to focus on the ways to think creatively, next steps and greater picture to accomplish the most glaring goal. In my eyes and mind there were clear prerequisites, and it was on me to shed light on these necessities.

Sadly though, I bombed spectacularly, which bled over into the other things I needed.     

First, I’d been unable to break through in convincing producers to make adjustments within the original six episodes, editing that would gain confidence of viewers, but also all the people we needed support from throughout Berchador.

Secondly, the percentage of locals who’d heard of American Rehab Charleston was tiny. Everyone I met had heard of HGTV and knew of a few of their most popular programs. And locally, most had heard of Southern Charm. Even if they’d never seen an episode, they knew the Bravo series was actively tapping into some of the Holy City’s popularity. As much as I tried, I’d been unable to resolve our regional blind spot, something that rippled into the short list of pressing preliminaries.   

Although these were both very important, neither was as significant as my lack of a written agreement with HGTV/DIY, the network pair who’d opened this door for me back in 2013. This was the nagging liability, a lingering headache that had lasted over two years. I could tell a banker that I’d been on TV and they could see the proof on their desktop computer screens. But they needed more. Having family, friends, and neighbors who’d seen the shows, heard of the series with good things to say, would have helped a lot.

And how much would paperwork with my name and theirs helped? Who’s to say? I’ll never really know since I struck out here as well.

Just before filming the pilot episode, I had received paperwork from the production company. And with the help of a local attorney, I sorted through it. The counsellor had no major concerns, describing the document as boiler plate. However, rather than something prepared for home improvement programming, he explained how this document was written for game or dating shows, rather than what we were doing in Summerville, rehabbing a house. However, it was a necessary formality, and the entertainment lawyer gave me a legal nod on signing it.   

But efforts to gain seven figure financing ushered in a need to examine these pages more closely. And it became clear that in order to secure necessary financing, I’d need a valid contract with Scripps or its subsidiary networks.

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 64 - June 19, 2026

Heavenly Carpenter in the Mix - Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 20

(Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 19 - March 6, 2026) 

Faith is prevailing, a source of power that can skootch someone outside of their comfort zone with certainty in their head and heart that they are under the watchful eyes and loving hands of heaven. Some may say that my relocating to the unknown before buying houses that others didn’t want, properties sitting vacant for years and sometimes decades, were multiple leaps of faith.

I think those are spot on takes.

Although I spent years working, studying, and planning for my first house project, faithfulness was a factor leading me to the closing table to sign the ownership documents and then with me until I sold that first home. And declarations from bystanders that my plans were “impossible,” became opportunities to lean into my spiritual convictions.

Chapter 17 from the bible’s book of Matthew was in my head throughout this and the pig’s ear renovations that came after. “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible.” And Philippians 4:13 that teaches, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Or “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31. These, more than other scriptures, ping ponged in my head regularly.

Fast forwarding to 2013 and the decision of how I should respond to the home improvement networks’ Director of Original Programming and Development, that faith was just as much in play. Those beliefs and values had gotten me to that point of my life and career, and they were woven into my willingness to submit a video to HGTV/DIY without specifics. And Diann was in stride, making these decisions and steps forward frictionless. As consideration was underway for more unknowns and undefined, there was deep rooted confidence that I was still in good hands moving ahead.    

So, for those who feel as if sending in a video with our children up into the cyber clouds was irresponsible, you may feel better by taking it up with the carpenter of heaven. 

(Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 21 - March 11, 2026)

Video for the HGTV Guy - Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 19

(Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 18 - March 4)

It was a nice fall afternoon when the four of us made our videos. First would be Diann and the kids and then another of just me. Each recording would be around two or three minutes. Our daughter was five, in the first grade, and my stepson was thirteen and in middle school. The three were on a swing in the back yard and I was operating the camcorder originally purchased to document the renovating of my “Hurricane House.”

Unexpected was how me pressing the red button would flip a switch with the siblings. They went wild, were far from shy as they talked over one another, getting up to be the one in front of the camera, and wrestling out of their mom’s grasp. Diann and I were also an issue, we were laughing too much and had to start from the top.

We explained to the kids how they needed to sit and take turns speaking before we tried it again. They did better but were still rowdy. Next, during my turn, the pair began playing in the background, throwing stuff out of the tree house. But I powered through, answered questions from the programming director’s email, and felt as if I’d covered bases as planned.

I watched the recordings a few times. I had done okay and answered questions while including my main points. However, the three of them did much better. My stepson has his own form of communicating and I found how Diann and our daughter translated for him endearing. I was used to seeing this in person, but on camera provided a different level of appreciation. It was a sweet, proud moment for me.  

However, the recordings didn’t make the same impression for Diann and after dinner, baths, and putting kids into their beds, she said something like, “I’m sorry that didn’t go better. We can try again tomorrow.”

“That’s alright.” Then I added, “I’m gonna send them in.”

She asked, “Are you sure? We can redo ours.”

“No. It’s fine,” I said. “They were funny. We don’t need to do it again.”

Neither Diann nor I owned smartphones yet, and I had to figure out how to get the videos into some sort of sharable format. But I managed it and watched the videos once more before I attached them to the email going back to the producer. Diann looked pretty. The kiddos were cute and comical. And in the back of my mind, I had this thought that we had a real solid chance of getting a little further down whatever road was unfolding.

But then I wondered if the person on the other end would even be able to open what I’d sent.    

(Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 21 - March 9, 2026) 

My Imagined Alliance with Rehab Addict’s Nicole Curtis - Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 14

(Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 13 - February 20, 2026) 

I had not spoken with Nicole Curtis, the star of the hit TV show on HGTV and DIY called Rehab Addict. Nor had she talked to me. And yet, through my blog and her comment in April 2012, we had sort of communicated. I suppose, without intending to, I’d said, “I get what you do” and she’d answered with a simple, “Thank you.” And maybe it was as basic as appreciation going two ways, up to Minnesota and then back to me in South Carolina by way of the internet.

It could be seen as more. I was promoting her and her show. But I was also applying what I believed as the key to being a good teacher, by directing followers or readers of my blog where they should look to learn, as if I was saying in my own way, “If y’all want to understand what I do and how I do it, find Rehab Addict on television and watch Nicole Curtis. After a few episodes, you’ll see and hear how you can save time and money by making use of what’s already there rather than tossing good stuff and replacing it with pricey new things. You can see how she makes something unwanted beautiful again, and at the end valuable. You’ll get a better idea of why renovating an unwanted house is so gratifying.”     

My blog was started for my own personal/professional reasons and ambitions, but it was also to inspire and educate others on how to renovate a house with potential, maybe even a property that real estate and construction experts were convinced was unsavable.

With most of my projects, I’d done what people with experience and wisdom and authority genuinely believed was undoable. And through my blog, I wanted others to realize that they could do the same, that they could buy a house that looked a lot worse than it actually was and step by step, bring it back to life. My message wasn’t only about resurrecting houses left for dead. But I felt if I could show how I save a property that was condemned, officially labeled Uninhabitable, then others could take what I had learned and was able to share and use it to help them revive the worst house on the block, or in some neighborhood near them. They could put their blood and sweat into something, make it their own silk purse, a special place to call home. Or maybe they could use what they learned to have a cool rehabbing career of their own.        

Right or wrong, I thought that in her show Rehab Addict, Nicole Curtis was doing that same thing.

(Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 15 - Coming Soon)

Self-Appointed Mission: Connect with TV People - Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 12

(Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 11 - February 16, 2026)

The details behind Nicole Curtis commenting on this blog in April 2012 were a minor mystery. I wrote nice things about her show and basically, she thanked me. In addition to this being a special moment, it was a thought-provoking surprise that forced me to concede that my wife was right and I was wrong. At the least, the TV star was aware of my writing here. And that was very cool.   

Around this time of my life, I would often visit online question and answer forums for do-it-yourself renovators seeking advice. While some questions, the softballs, would get flooded with helpfulness, other advice seekers would get nothing. These blatantly overlooked peeps had taken time to describe their issue and formulate a request, sometimes even post a picture. And yet all they got were cyber crickets for days.

I really wanted to help these folks, to do what I could. I suppose it’s a little like me taking on my unwanted houses; in these forums I was filling a need, trying to help the DIYers who were being unnoticed. And a funny thing would happen sometimes: once I made an effort to help the person make some sort of progress, others would chime in, and the once ignored would get a variety of additional suggestions to compare with mine. And I was sure that was really helpful. I was happy to be the lone commenter, equally pleased when I instigated a trickle, and amazed when my thoughts were followed by an avalanche of aid.

Because of blog comments and emails, it was clear that my participation on these Q&A sites led folks back to my blog. And one of these people may have been connected to the home improvement networks. Perhaps this person, or someone else, told Nicole Curtis about my post promoting her and the hit rehabbing program. I'll likely never know how the blonde rehabber found her way to my blog.

However, what I must admit now, so many years later, is that my mind began to percolate on this unexpected development, inspiring me to think, I have their attention. Meaning: the people at HGTV/DIY know about me. Right or wrong, that's how my brain began to process the comment from the popular rehab addict on television.

(Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 13 - February 20, 2026)