This is a Victorian facade we restored in 2020 in Cabbagetown, Toronto using hot mixed lime mortar and mostly reclaimed brick. The scope of work on this project was full joint removal and repoint and spot brick replacement and sectional rebuild.
There was a lot of pointing and brick replacement previously done with cement on this facade. Removing cement from super soft brick in a single veneer facade is tricky and frustrating and often leads to more work than originally required.
While we have always used lime based mortars, this was our first somewhat large project using hot mixed lime. After an awful lot of research and communication with leading experts in the UK we decided to use it after doing multiple test walls earlier in the year. The original bedding mortar was a hot mixed lime mortar and the bricks are also very soft and pitted from sand blasting in the 80’s. We felt a soft permeable mortar was the right call to help preserve the facade and ensure future repairs are easy.
For an in-depth breakdown on why this mortar is superior to protecting soft brickwork search ‘Functional Behaviour Of Traditional Lime Mortars’ on YouTube for a good rundown on these types of mortars.
