<p>During the construction of most Capitol Hill row homes at the turn of the 20th Century, modern strong mortar was not available to brick and stone masons. Our modern Portland cement has only been recently used for a short period of time for masonry construction (in America). Prior to portland cement, lime and sand were [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Common brick was machine made but soft and potentially irregular. It is often used on the sides of row homes, while the front facade is composed of more uniform &#8220;pressed brick.&#8221; In this picture, the plaster was actually removed from the majority of the brick surface.  At the turn of the last century, it was [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The picture below is a common brick with a flushed mortar joint, which is very common to the original construction here in Capitol Hill. The following picture is a concave mortar joint which is very common to typical construction in tract homes in modern construction outside of the city. This particular picture is in Capitol [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Lateral Support would aid a wall from shifting side to side, perpendicular to the path of the wall. Buttresses are an example of lateral support in brick masonry. &#8220;Barnstars&#8221; are a commonly-used name for anchor plates. The anchor plates are installed with tie rods often back to floor joist and structural deck framing. &nbsp; Click [&hellip;]</p>

<p>English bond is a pattern of brick where stretcher courses and header courses are alternated to form the wall. The image below is a color coded English bond. &nbsp; The image below is a color coded Double English Cross bond. Click here to go to the list of all items on Capitol Hill Historic Masonry. </p>

<p>American Bond, or Common Bond, is a style of laying masonry which employs a header course every few stretcher courses. Unlike English Bond, in which the two courses are alternated, in this technique, the header course is typically only used every 5-8 courses. This is one of the most typical types of brick construction in [&hellip;]</p>

<p>A Flemish bond involves incorporating courses that utilize alternating headers and stretchers.  This is a strong bond because the alternating patterns allow for an integral and strong bond across a double wythe. Click here to go to the list of all items on Capitol Hill Historic Masonry.  Click here to go to the list of [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Modern headers often incorporate a steel support that provides extra strength in the span above a void space. Click here to go to the list of all items on Capitol Hill Historic Masonry.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Keystones are the masonry pieces&nbsp;that sit at the top of an arch. &nbsp;Often times these are oversized or decorative. The keystone in the arch below is in a Roman style arch and is built with a Roman Style brick. &nbsp; Click here to go to the list of all items on Capitol Hill Historic Masonry.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Stone lintels are long sections of stone that are used above void spaces, such as windows and doors, to support the construction above.  Stone lintels are used throughout Capitol Hill, often with a different texture than the brickwork around them to provide an aesthetic contrast. The stone lintels are heavy and large and required additional [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Semicircular arches, also known as Roman arches, are similar to segmented arches but cover a full 180 degrees of span.  The semicircular arch is a classic arch style, whereas the segmental and Jack arch styles — common in Capitol Hill — came into use later.   While the semicircular arch is a great-looking arch, it [&hellip;]</p>

<p>We will be posting several new blogs as part of a series on the historic masonry of Capitol Hill.  The subject matter will cover the elements of design, history related to masonry construction, and upkeep and maintenance of historic masonry structures in Capitol Hill, DC. This series on historic masonry is driven by the large [&hellip;]</p>

<p>We are soon to be working on an interesting accent wall similar to this one.</p>

<p>MDF wood is Medium Density Fiberboard.  There are also light- and high-density fiberboards. None of them should be used outdoors. They aren&#8217;t marketed well to distinguish when and where they should not be used. Home Depot sells these boards mixed in with the FJ (Finger Joint) trim. These boards are very expensive at Home Depot, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>If you are sweating copper water lines to a plastic outlet box at a laundry or fridge or any appliance, you have to be very careful not to melt the plastic box with your torch. At the same time, it is a delicate balance because you need to make sure it is HOT enough to give [&hellip;]</p>

<p>There are lots of entry locksets out there.  Once in a while, I get calls to come and secure doors after break-ins. When I explain to homeowners how easy it is to break through a door and actually show them the assembly and anatomy of a door and lock, the homeowners are usually shocked how [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I took a look in the gutter in my block the other day.  One of my neighbors had a guy working on their HVAC system and the guy accidentally spilled the fuel oil tank that he was taking out. I and the other neighbors got involved a bit to try to keep our local (and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>On a recent walk through the neighborhood, I slowed down and took a close look at a lot of the cast iron front stairs at a handful of houses on my walk.  Many of the houses in these pictures have a mix of original cast iron and newer iron elements.  Many include fully-original cast iron elements [&hellip;]</p>

<p>We just finished an outdoor kitchen project that was a lot of fun to build.  Kitchens always have tricky aspects, but we came up with a lot of solutions to make this one work well in the outdoors. For outdoor cabinets, there are only so many good options, and the lead times on stainless cabinets, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I discovered a great personal website: 12-gaugegarage.com The owner has a perspective and style that I really admire.  It is a really cool website and concept. I spend a lot of time designing and building and organizing my workshops here on the Hill.  The biggest challenge here on the Hill is that you can hardly find [&hellip;]</p>