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That old courthouse in Richmond I visited last month had some of the worst brickwork I've ever seen
I was in Richmond for a family thing and stopped by the old Henrico County courthouse they just restored. Everyone online was raving about the brick restoration work, saying it was a perfect match to the original 1850s style. But I walked up close and the pointing was all wrong, too deep and sloppy, like someone used a caulk gun instead of a proper jointing tool. The color match was off too, they used a dark gray mortar against red brick when the original used a lighter lime mix. I even saw three vertical cracks running through the front facade that they just filled over. Am I the only one who thinks modern restoration crews are getting lazy with the details?
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ellis.faith1mo agoMost Upvoted
I used to defend restoration crews all the time, I thought people were too picky about old buildings. But that part about the "dark gray mortar against red brick" really opened my eyes. I went to a restored church in Norfolk last year and noticed the same thing - the mortar was like toothpaste squeezed out, no crisp lines at all. They also used this weirdly smooth finish that caught the light Wrong, totally killed the historic look. Your point about the vertical cracks getting filled over instead of properly repaired is what got me though. That's just lazy, no other way to put it. I guess I was giving these crews too much credit before, they're cutting corners and calling it good enough.
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joel_jones1mo ago
@hill.margaret, that toothpaste squeezing out is just normal settling and people get too worked up over nothing.
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