[MassHistPres] Stone walls and mortar work

[rcsmitharch at verizon.net]

Physically the solution is pretty straightforward- cut back the offending mortar, repoint with mortar that matches the original, doing a sample to verify that the match is within tolerance.  It's poor workmanship, obviously, but do the design guidelines adequately constrain the mason?  Looking again at our design guidelines in Swampscott, I think we need to add a paragraph on masonry to discuss both mortar color and mixes.  Bad mortar choices, even if they look fine at the outset, can do irreparable damage to stone or brick.  Maybe the mason could be embarrassed into fixing it with pictures showing how bad it looks.

Richard Smith
Swampscott Historic District Commission.

-----Original Message-----
From: MassHistPres <masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu> On Behalf Of Nancy Robbins via MassHistPres
Sent: Monday, October 5, 2026 3:52 PM
To: MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
Cc: Christen Foote <christenfoote at yahoo.com>; Manny Silva HDC <Silva67 at comcast.net>; Nealia Morrison <nmorrison at dbvw.com>; Dean Zwicker HDC <Zwhizzerman at aol.com>; McGrath, Ellen <ellen_mcgrath at yahoo.com>
Subject: [MassHistPres] Stone walls and mortar work

Recently an owner in the HD had a mason come to reinforce some loose rocks in various spots of a stone wall. The stones were all very flat and nicely laid out unlike the more rural stone walls you see in fields and are of a darker charcoal gray. 

Needless to say the mason did a poor job of applying the mortar on the top portion. It’s a white color and not attractive when  you walk by. I do plan on contacting  the company but has anyone experienced a similar situation and what was the remedy? Or other thoughts on how to deal with this? At the very least I’d like the white mortar made to be less obvious. It looks sloppy as well. 

Thank you all,

Nancy
Nancy Robbins Federici
Co-chair, Norton Center Historic District Commission C. (508) 958-5165

We hire smart people not to tell them what to do but for them to tell us. 
                                 Steve Jobs
                        





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