The mortar on that 1920s church in Savannah had me staring for way too long

I drove past St. John's on Abercorn last week and pulled over because the brickwork looked almost new, but the building is clearly ancient. Turns out they repointed it about 8 years ago with a lime mix, and it's blending so well you can't spot the repairs unless you're 2 feet away with your nose in the joints. Has anyone else had luck matching old lime mortar on historic jobs, or did you just go with modern mix and hope nobody looks close?

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adams.taylor15d ago

Changed my whole view on restoration after seeing that job. I used to think lime mortar was overhyped by preservation types who just wanted things to look old. But watching how that repointing blended into the original brickwork made me realize the modern Portland mix I always reached for was actually doing more harm than good. The old lime lets the wall breathe, and it flexes with the building instead of fighting it. Now I check the age of the structure before I even order materials, and I always test a small patch first. If you're not matching the original binder, you're basically just creating a patch that's gonna fail in a decade and maybe crack the brick with it.