Keynote B · C · Division 04 Masonry
Historic Masonry Restoration
Tuckpointing, cast stone repointing, rusted lintel replacement and window restoration that keep a New Orleans building's original face and close the places water gets in.
What fails first on an old New Orleans brick wall
New Orleans brick lives in wet air. Rain, humidity and a ground that stays damp all work on the same weak point: the mortar. Mortar is meant to wear out before the brick does, and once it washes out of a joint, rain runs into the wall instead of off it.
Other failures stack up behind that one. Brick faces flake and crack where they stay wet. Steel lintels over doors and windows rust, swell, and push the brick above them out of line. Window glazing dries out and lets water past the sash. Each of these is a way in, and on an old building they usually arrive together.
St Charles Avenue Baptist Church shows the pattern. Paramount's own project list for that building names masonry cleaning and cast stone repointing next to rusted metal lintels over the doors and deteriorated windows. A historic wall fails as one system, so it has to be read as one. Call or text 504-723-4112 and Paramount will walk the wall with you.
Old red brick with sound pale mortar joints beside an eroded, spalled patch
Tuckpointing, lintels and windows, in the order the wall needs them
It starts with a complimentary site visit, before anyone writes a scope. Masonry cleaning comes first, and Paramount's crew has been photographed washing red brick from a swing stage in yellow rain gear. A clean wall shows what is really wrong with it.
Tuckpointing follows. Damaged mortar comes out and new mortar goes in, leaving a fine line between mortar and brick that improves the look of the wall, reinforces it, and stops water intrusion. Cast stone is repointed the same way, and rusted metal lintels are replaced rather than painted over.
Window Restoration repairs and refurbishes the windows already in the wall instead of replacing them. Broken glass, rot and worn hardware get attention, and reglazing gives the sash a proper seal against air and water. Waterproofing Solutions go on last, once the wall underneath is sound enough to hold them.
Keeping the original face of the building
A restored wall should still look like the same wall. Paramount describes the work as repairing damaged bricks, stones and mortar so the building keeps its original appearance, with new mortar made to match the old so it blends into the existing masonry.
In New Orleans that is more than taste. Jan C. wrote that Paramount worked for several years at the Cotton Mill and Property One condominiums on tuck-pointing, roof work and the painted water tower, that many jobs needed PRC/HDLC approval because the buildings are historic, and that Paramount met all requirements with no problem. She also wrote that the owner was on site overseeing the projects.
Albert Bikbulatov, M. Eng, started Paramount in 2011 and still works with clients, architects and engineers on historic buildings. At St Charles Avenue Baptist Church, with a variety of stakeholders involved, Paramount was invited to complete further work after the first job. That invitation back is the record this page rests on.
St Charles Avenue Baptist Church, 7100 St Charles Avenue, New Orleans: masonry cleaning, cast stone repointing, waterproofing, rusted lintels replaced and windows reglazed, and Paramount was invited back for further work.