PSA: Watch out for old mortar in those 1920s houses in the historic district

Last month I was cleaning a flue in a 1920s bungalow downtown and the mortar between the bricks was basically dust. My brush knocked a bunch loose and I had a small pile of debris fall into the firebox. The homeowner said, 'Well, it's original,' like that was a good thing. Had to stop and recommend a full repoint before any more sweeping. Anyone else run into this a lot with the really old places?

3 comments

3 Comments

dylanbell1mo ago

Original" just means it's been falling apart for a century, not that it's good.

evac821mo ago

Actually, original can mean both old and the first of its kind. Sometimes that means it's good, sometimes it just means it's historic.

henrybaker29d ago

Exactly, and sometimes "historic" just means we kept the broken thing because nobody bothered to fix it yet.