Dutchman Stone Repair According to ASTM E2659-09

Dutchman (masonry) A piece of stone used to repair a larger piece, shaped such that it fills as exactly as possible a void or cavity that is to be repaired

Dutchmen repairs are useful for replacing small missing or deteriorated sections of stone. First, the area of replacement should be neatly trimmed and squared. An insert of either matching natural stone or a compatible cast stone facsimile should be cut to size and surfaced to match the existing material.

 

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Forms of Deterioration in
Natural Stone
Depending upon the type of stone,
the climate, exposure, orientation,
building use, provision for moisture                                    
management, and type of construction,
the causes and manifestations of stone
deterioration can be diverse.
As moisture within the wall evaporates
from the exterior face, it leaves
behind waterborne salts, which remain
on the stone surface. This characteristic
white stain, or efflorescence, is often
a result of rising damp, which occurs
when groundwater is drawn up into
the base of the wall. Efflorescence may
also be caused by moisture introduced
into the wall assembly through improperly
installed or missing flashings
at the top of a parapet.

Where efflorescence is observed,
subflorescence also may be present. As
trapped moisture migrates through                    
Where a portion of the stone surface
has broken away, the problem could
be delamination, exfoliation, or spalling,
depending upon the type of stone and
the nature of the break. Often caused
by freeze-thaw cycling, spalling is the
result of trapped moisture and salts
that expand beneath the surface of
the stone, forcing off a piece of the
outer face. As stone is exposed to
age and wear, the surface layer may
separate from the body along a vein,
through processes resulting from salt
crystallization. Spalling can also result
from poor repointing techniques
and from using too hard a repointing
mortar.                                                               

Delamination takes place when the
outer surface of the stone splits into
thin layers, which then peel off the
face. Sedimentary stones are naturally
prone to delamination, which occurs
along the bedding planes when the
rock is set perpendicular to the direction
in which it was originally formed.
Like delamination, exfoliation is a type
of surface disintegration in which the
stone sloughs off in very fine layers.
Although the two terms are often
used interchangeably, delamination
tends to refer to fracture along natural
bedding planes, whereas exfoliation is
usually due to thermal stress, impeded
moisture movement, or other
environmental factors.

Where a crack in the masonry unit
leads to a clean break, the fracture
is referred to as detachment.
Detachment may be due to failure of
an original construction joint, or it may
be the result of a weakened plane
within the stone.

Tracing the source of cracking in historic
stone masonry can be difficult,
as it can originate in a wide variety of
sources, ranging from structural settlement
to a repointing mortar that is
incompatible with the stone. If cracks
are narrow and short or confined to
within a single stone unit, the issue
may be relatively minor; cracks that
are wider and longer or those that
extend over large areas may be indicative
of systemic problems.

If, with light rubbing, the surface of the
stone falls away in small granules, similar
in texture to granulated sugar, the
stone may be succumbing to surface
disintegration, or sugaring. Cohesive
minerals in the stone dissolve, and the
remaining deposits are easily brushed
from the surface. Carbonate stones,
especially fine-grained marble, are
particularly susceptible to this type of
granular separation.

As the building ages, the natural disintegration
and erosion of stone due
to wind and rain leads to weathering,
which results in worn and rounded
surfaces.

Kansas city masonry repair. historic brick products, Historic limestone. Masonry Hardscapes, Kansas City Masonry Restoration patios, masonry Kansas city, stone patios Kansas city , hardscaping. More masonry patios installation by Kansas city masonry.The old homes in Brookside and elsewhere in Kansas City are beautiful, but they are built on a delicate stone foundation. Hundreds of people, maybe more, are considering or have already considered the different options when it comes to dealing with their crumbling home foundations.Stone: Stone,Kansas City, Kansas City MASONRY Preserving masonry Kansas City stone foundation, historic buildings, Offers masonry repair, concrete repair, waterproofing

It’s All About the Fire. Making Evenings Unforgettable.

Kansas City Masonry is that company.  Our collection comprises of Custom fire pits varying from stone to stainless steel fire pits and square to eclipse fire pit. Patio fire pit styles are also available to choose from. The best Natural Gas Outdoor Fireplaces & Fire Pits.

Outdoor natural gas fire pits are a great way to add warmth and a focal point to any backyard or outdoor living space. You’ll have many options to explore if you’re considering adding an outdoor gas fire pit, and there are a few key points to consider before you light the flame for the first time.

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Making Evenings Unforgettable. At The Masons Co, we know how to make an evening. We offer unlimited options to create an unforgettable backyard experience. Our commercial grade gas fire pit inserts and enclosures are manufactured to a higher standard, with CSA-certified technology to ensure exceptional performance.

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The Masons Co

(913) 203-0685

Office Location:

The Cosby Building

107 W. 9th St.

2nd Floor

Kansas, MO 64105

Check us out on the web:

The Masons Co.

Kansas City Masonry

Brick Masonry Repair

City of Fountain Builders

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Historic Masonry Mortar, Lime. Master Masons At Work. Lime that has been burnt in a kiln and all the carbon calcium carbonate, is now changed to calcium oxide.

The first mortars were made from mud or clay. These materials were used because of availability and low cost. The Egyptians utilized gypsum mortars to lubricate the beds of large stones when they were being moved into position(ref. i). However, these materials did not perform well in the presence of high levels of humidity and water.

Kansas City Craft Masons/Historic Masonry Company, Masonry, Fountain, Historic Preservation.
Kansas City Historic Masonry Company, Masonry, Fountain, Historic Preservation.

It was discovered that limestone, when burnt and combined with water, produced a material that would harden with age. The earliest documented use of lime as a construction material was approximately 4000 B.C. when it was used in Egypt for plastering the pyramids(ref. ii). The beginning of the use of lime in mortars is not clear. It is well documented, however, that the Roman Empire used lime based mortars extensively. Vitruvius, a Roman architect, provided basic guidelines for lime mortar mixes(ref. iii).

The Masons Company sets itself apart from all others in its commitment to historic restoration and preservation. With their passion and deep devotion to the fundamentals, these craftsmen are genuine relics to the craft of masonry

 

The Masons Co

(913) 203-0685

Office Location:

The Cosby Building

107 W. 9th St.

2nd Floor

Kansas, MO 64105

Check us out on the web:

The Masons Co.

Kansas City Masonry

Brick Masonry Repair

City of Fountain Builders

Subscribe to our You Tube channel:

 

A Seamless Juncture: New Construction in a Historic Setting.

When creating and building new masonry structures in Kansas City proper , it is extremely important to make certain that existing ones are complimented. It is vital that the historical character of a property be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive materials or alteration of features that characterize a property should be avoided.

Respect for the original architectural design or architect must remain steadfast. Great care needs to be taken to ensure that new construction shall be compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion to protect the integrity of the property and its environment. The new construction must be undertaken in such a manner that, if removed in the future, the essential form and candor of the historic property would be unscathed. Kansas City has a long history of great architects , such as Shepard, Farrar, and Wiser; Alice Walton; Edward Delk; Root and Siemens; Smith, Rea and Lovitt; Howe, Hoit and Cutler; John Van Brunt; Adriance Van Brunt; and Courtlandt Van Brunt, only to mention a few.

The Masons Co. is a Kansas City Masonry contractor whose company is built on expertise from being passionately entrenched in the trade of masonry for thirty years. High standards and an innate passion for the craft ensures a completed project that is prolific and gratifying to the homeowner or commercial property owner.

 

The Masons Co/Kansas City Masonry 

(913) 203-0685

Office Location:

The Cosby Building

107 W. 9th St.

2nd Floor

Kansas City, MO 64105

 

Check us out on the web: www.kansascitymasonryrestorationcontractors.com

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Historic Restoration vs. Flipping and Flopping in Kansas City!

At the frenetic pace in which homes and buildings are being remodeled and sold in Kansas City, its troubling that many of these flips eventually turn into flops.  Renovating historic industrial buildings and turning them into condos is a hot trend as pockets of downtown are being sought out by investors for future urban core desiring dwellers.

 

Rejuvenation is essential to cities and vital to their renaissance.  And there’s always such excitement walking into a recently renovated home or condominium and soaking in all of the newness. Unfortunately, the bones are often overlooked, especially ones that could be broken. When the brick or stone facade begins to falter, it becomes painfully clear that time and care should have been utilized when the modernization was being implemented.
Restoration, especially historic, takes the process one step deeper. It peels back the layers that are damaged and rebuilds from the property’s true integrity.

The Masons Company sets itself apart from all others in it’s commitment to historic restoration and preservation. With their passion and deep devotion to the fundamentals, these craftsmen are genuine relics to the craft of masonry.

The Masons Co

(913) 203-0685

Office Location:

The Cosby Building

107 W. 9th St.

2nd Floor

Kansas, MO 64105

Check us out on the web:

The Masons Co.

Kansas City Masonry

Brick Masonry Repair

City of Fountain Builders

Subscribe to our You Tube channel:

You Tube

We’re on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/themasonsco/

 

Root Cause Analysis – Forbidden Knowledge and the Understanding of Failure

Feeling incomplete because of missing stones or bricks? Troubled by bowing or bulging walls? Plagued by mortar joints or vertical corner cracks?

The answer is to hire an experienced, reputable and smart Kansas City masonry company. But the answer is two-fold and the second part of the answer is to make sure that the contractor has the knowledge and esoteric masonic understanding to analyze the root cause of complex masonry problems and act accordingly.

Many masonry repairs fail prematurely because they do not address the primary cause of distress or failure. And where repairs fail, they tend to make deterioration worse. If you only fix the symptoms – that is what you see on the surface – the problem will almost certainly return, and need fixing over and over again. If you look deeper to figure out what’s causing the problem, you can fix the underlying systems and processes so that it goes away for good.

Kansas City Masonry / The Masons Co. is the region’s preeminent leader in looking deeper and determining the crucial steps in masonry repair and historic restoration.

Office Location:  Country Club Plaza

KCMasonrycontractors@gmail.com

(816) 500-4198

Check us out on the web:

The Masons Co.

Kansas City Masonry

Brick Masonry Repair

City of Fountain Builders

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The Art of Masonry, or the Craft.

What is an art? What is a craft? What’s the difference?

The definitions of art and craft are not uniform, but in Western Europe crafts predate the arts. A time long ago when there was a focus on the beauty in the world, and if you had the talent to make something beautiful, or at least the ability to learn to make something beautiful, you apprenticed at a trade guild. Metalsmiths, architects, weavers, carpenters, these were the artists of their time, each forming into a guild of tradesmen under a master craftsman, who designed the craft..

Masonry is the art and craft of building and fabricating in stone, clay, brick, or concrete block. Construction of poured concrete, reinforced or unreinforced. The craft of stonemasonry (or stonecraft) has existed since humanity could use and make tools- creating buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone from the earth. They were beautiful, made to exact, repeatable designs and specifications from the master, meeting all standards set by the guildmaster, created by the craftsmen, and assisted in their craft by their apprentices. The value of it was that it was recognizable. It carried the master’s trade mark.

Medicine, while founded in science, has long been called an “art.” Likewise, the delivery of medical care is known as “practice,” though it will likely never be made perfect. Medicine is part science. Part art. The relationship between physicians and patients is at the core of healing.

Over time the world changed, and  the emphasis shifted from the work to the worker. The artwork was absolutely valuable, but more because it was a unique expression of the experiences of the artist or an interpretation of the beauty the artist saw. The crafts sliped away to be repeatable to exacting, high standards.

1.Art is a work created by the accumulation of experience, skill, expressible point of view, and is entirely unique.

2. Craft is work created by the skills and experience of a skilled artisan meant to meet and conform to exacting standards of the Master.

Stonemasonry is one of the earliest craft in civilization’s history. During the time of the Neolithic Revolution and domestication of animals, people learned how to use fire to create quicklime, plasters, and mortars. They used these to fashion homes for themselves with mud, straw, or stone, and the CRAFT masonry was born.

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Historical Background of Lime Mortar. Burning The Bones Of The Earth.

Lime mortar is a type of mortar composed of lime and an aggregate such as sand, mixed with water. It is one of the oldest known types of mortar, dating back to the 4th century BC and widely used in Ancient Rome and Greece, when it largely replaced the clay and gypsum mortars common to Ancient Egyptian construction.

The Mix

Lime mortars were the norm for centuries, and the secret of the perfect mix for any given situation was passed from father to son and from craftsman to apprentice over generations; the techniques also varied considerably across the country to suit the nature and performance of predominantly locally-sourced materials. There were few textbooks and no formal training. It was a matter of tradition and instinct supplemented by generations of experiment and sound experience.

This chain of knowledge was severely interrupted by the First World War and the near-universal adoption thereafter of stronger, faster-setting and consistent (but not always appropriate) cement-based mortars. To a large extent, today’s craftsmen have had to rebuild that knowledge base from scratch. But what if we have placed too much trust, and not enough understanding, in surviving texts, rather than analyzing the sound evidence of centuries-mortar— http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/mythmix/mythmix.htm

Is there anything freer than chalk?

Where does one get one’s Cement?

That Cement is  Brotherly Love and Affection comes from “Heart Work.” This is a major focus of the operative . With its focus upon Values, Morality, Divestment and Investment, Masonic Cement is slowly but surely created by the Masons so doing this Work.

But isn’t Cement just “Symbolic?” Speculative Speaking  

Masons might assume that all this Masonic Cement talk is just Symbolic.  They might assume that a literal translation would ever readily present itself should Masons try to find it within some Ritual.  And should such Masons ever assume that Masonic Cement is just Symbolic, they would be very wrong.

Investigating the compounds necessary to bring about Cement requires exploration into the many types of Cements commonly used over the years.  There are multitudes of mixtures that have been used in the past with the most widely spread formula being those used in Ordinary Portland Cement.  The basic compounds that produce OPC come from limestone, alumina, silica and ferric sources.  When properly prepared and appropriately mixed together with water, it creates a viscous fluid that readily hardens into solids with the utmost of Integrity.

Interestingly enough, the compounds required to create Cement are mentioned within Lectures throughout the World.  Moreover, it is amazing to this Mason that it is a rare operative mason who knows this, especially since the Cement of Brotherly Love and Affection is such an overly emphasized articulation echoed throughout Masonic Work.

Let’s explore the making of Cement and see if you might guess where the “ingredients” are hidden within Operative Ritual.

One step toward making Cement is to take Limestone and remove Carbon Dioxide from it.  This is usually done by breaking the material up and subjecting it to an intense heat source.  At temperatures of 900 degrees centigrade, lime is created. Removal occurs more quickly at 1000 degrees though.  Higher temperatures are counterproductive since something called, “dead-burn” lime is created which is nonreactive for Cement production purposes.

 

Coincidentally, charcoal burns at 1100 degrees centigrade. With this temperature being achieved, it can easily be used to raise the temperature of limestone to the necessary tipping point where it gives up its carbon dioxide. Doing so creates a compound called “Lime” or Calcium Oxide.  This compound is used to create Lime Mortar, Roman Cement(1) and OPC.

For those of you who might not make the connection, Limestone is common Chalk.

Chalk, Charcoal, and Clay Chalk by Anthony A Reyes

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