The Project
In 1994 British singer song-writer Seal released his iconic hit single “kiss from a rose”. 20 years prior to that, on Rose Avenue in Toronto, this Second Empire Victorian facade (C.1881) was covered in grey cement stucco. 😍
Fast forward 50 years. We were contracted to restore the masonry on the facade back to heritage standards. There was a lot of unknowns about this project. Any indication of brick detailing were hidden behind a wall of grey cement which was exciting. This was a heritage grant project. If you own a heritage designated property you can apply for a grant which helps fund the cost of the restoration.
Our Approach
We began by removing the wire mesh and cement stucco to expose the brick behind. As expected the brick was badly deteriorated and covered in paint. (The section above the main door was altered before the stucco was applied. It’s hard to say what was the original feature there but it was not likely brick.) A full tear down and rebuild of the masonry was on the cards. Before removing the brick we took stock of all the original details for the rebuild.
This house is one of 3 rowhouses that were added on to a farmhouse, built in 1858. A reclaimed brick with evidence of tuckpointing from that farmhouse can be seen on the interior wythe.
When dismantling the facade we reclaimed as much of the original brick as possible. We salvaged roughly 50% for the rebuild. We used @ibstockbrick Leicester red stock and multicream brick and integrated them among the reclaim. For mortar we used a lime binder (40 bags) and brick sand along with natural earth pigment.
New heritage windows are going in in the spring. Landscaping and slate roof in the next 5-6 years. We are looking forward to revisiting this project when it’s all done. We expect to see a horse and cart outside.
