How To Make a Brick Lintel Repair | Ask This Old House

In this video, classic brickwork can last for centuries, but it will sometimes require a little bit of maintenance. When a homeowner’s lintel started to sag, they called mason Mark McCullough for help.
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Traditional brickwork is more than just a facade on the outside of the home. It’s part of the home’s structure, and this material can last for generations if taken care of. When a lintel started to sag on a brick federal-style home with historic roots, the homeowner called mason Mark McCullough to save the day. With a mix of modern and traditional material, Mark shows the homeowner what to do.
Difficulty: ⅗
Cost: Around $150
Time: One day
Where to find it?
To protect the window, remove the shutters and cover the window with plywood [homedepot.sjv....].
To break the mortar, use a chisel [homedepot.sjv....] and hammer [homedepot.sjv....]. Remove the loose brick and continue to chip away the old mortar. You can use a mill file [homedepot.sjv....] to remove stubborn mortar.
To prevent water penetration, apply flashing [homedepot.sjv....] before adding back the brick.
To add structural support, Mark incorporates a steel angle iron [homedepot.sjv....]. Mark uses a grinder [homedepot.sjv....] to hollow out brick. The hollowed bricks are called lip stretchers [homedepot.sjv....]. The overhang of the brick covers and disguises the steel angle iron.
To match the mortar, Mark uses a fixture of restoration sand [homedepot.sjv....], Portland cement [homedepot.sjv....], and lime [homedepot.sjv....]. Mark suggests using a piece of the old mortar to compare as you’re mixing. Use a trowel [homedepot.sjv....] to slowly mix the material with water.
Apply mortar only to the head joints when adding back the brick.
Use a damp sponge [homedepot.sjv....] blend the new mortar with the existing mortar.
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Materials:
Plywood [homedepot.sjv....]
2x4 pressure-treated boards [homedepot.sjv....]
Butyl flashing [homedepot.sjv....]
Steel angle iron [homedepot.sjv....]
Restoration sand [homedepot.sjv....]
Lime [homedepot.sjv....]
Portland cement [homedepot.sjv....]
Lip stretcher bricks [homedepot.sjv....]
Tools:
Mason’s hammer [homedepot.sjv....]
Masonry chisels [homedepot.sjv....]
Masonry files [homedepot.sjv....]
Angle grinder [homedepot.sjv....]
Masonry brushes [homedepot.sjv....]
Various masonry trowels [homedepot.sjv....]
Mixing trough [homedepot.sjv....]
Damp sponge [homedepot.sjv....]
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From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. ASK This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment-your home.
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How To Make a Brick Lintel Repair | Ask This Old House
/ thisoldhouse

[@DIYManiacJohnP]

Mark is a true example of a craftsman

[@PatHaskell]

Interesting that the second layer of brick is arched above the window. I wonder if the outer layer was added at a later time because the exterior had deteriorated.

[@Guardducks]

I like Mark a very good addition to this old house. His explanations are spot on and easy to understand . Thanks Mark. 👍🏼

[@illuminancecrt8930]

About to do a similar repair. Had no idea not to put mortar between the lintel and the brick. This 8 minute video well worth my time!

[@emusaurus]

Someone filled mine with caulk or silicone. I've been wondering why the room gets so damp and musty I can barely stay in there longer than 5 mins. I reckon this could be the issue. Drilling it out tomorrow.

[@markpienciaksr.5331]

If I was a Mason apprentice, Mark would be the person that I would love to work for , what a craftsman

[@Zero11_ss]

I wish I could afford to have him work on our house.

[@Butterfly-iz3nm]

Pretty good repair. If I had to grade it I would give it a "B" on the grounds that the lowest row of half bricks still appear to sag in the middle over the window and the mortar joints were done thicker and a bit sloppier than the existing joints and the new mortar is lighter in color than the existing mortar. If it was a true historical museum piece you would expect a better job to be done.

[@jalalkhan-lr3hj]

You noticed well 👏👏I agree..

[@Butterfly-iz3nm]

Agreed. You can't mortar brick to steel because of expansion and contraction rates, but you could certainly use a spacer to lift the brick into a level line. A hidden sheet of rubber comes to mind.@@fillmorehillmore8239

[@pavelow235]

I believe that is a optical illusion, or inperfections in the bricks he called a "lip stretcher."

[@indieoak]

How long have you been a mason?

[@yaosio]

I don't know what brick, lintel, or repairs are but I still watched this video.

[@donhorn548]

Great video! Hope to see more restoration work on old brick structures like this.

[@devadiponeness1]

Mark is the best part of the show love u Mark ❤

[@Mr.T314]

Brick work is a form of art.

[@anm9973]

Well done Mark! The best masonry ever

[@peterjanis2455]

Marks a pro love watching him work. i like how when he set up the scaffolding he said they we're going to "work like gentlemen", not some halfass handyman reaching over almost falling off a ladder

[@mmuww]

Excellent demonstration and craftsmanship on display here

[@johnlebzelter4208]

Nice repair Mark.

[@Chrispy9393]

Damn that was a much larger job than I expected.

[@Francois_Dupont]

why old houses you must never dig too deep into the project because there would be nothing left.

[@clarencetaylor7455]

Can always look forward to a good old lip stretcher

[@supremewhip]

2:08 that baby wrist tap did nothing 😂

[@c0mputer]

Mark’s arms are essentially hammers so seeing the home owner try and lightly tap the brick with his soft milky palms was hilarious.

[@Ellias32188]

Mark makes it look so easy. Amazing work.

[@mikejustice1196]

Back up to 2:44, why is there an arch behind the face wall? Was there a window there? That wood mold brick looks to modern to be from the 1800’s

[@ElectricGears]

The internal arch is needed to distribute the load around the opening. What happened is that water got behind the outer layer of brick and the unsupported section just above the window opening broke away from the inner coarse. The section that broke away doesn't carry any real load, it's basically hanging by the mortar. Although now that they installed the steel header it can share the load with the inner layer.

[@mikejustice1196]

@@ElectricGears my question is, was there an arched transom window above that window you repaired originally? I’m a mason doing this for 54 years and I’ve never seen this built like this… to bury an arch in the center of a CMU. An arch only carry’s the masonry above it, not what’s in front or behind it because if it did that repair would have never happened to begin with, the wood failed on the window. It looks like there was a window light above the window and for some reason they took it out and filled the opening back in. All homes and buildings I’ve seen of this age have stone or cast stone over those window openings. Theres a gap between what we have done since the 60’s and what the masons did in the 1800’s.😊

[@DavidJohnson-dk3bf]

Lip stretcher was my nick name in high school

[@rickwallace2091]

Wow his knowledge is stellar. This is more than construction but preservation.

[@SuperMan-xy8ui]

Well done! “Work like gentlemen”

[@TootlesTart]

Just helped me solve a problem with a house I’m looking to buy. Might be worth getting inspected for repairs.

[@louisel.sinniger2057]

I love watching a pro in action. Beautiful

[@davidzeltwanger3700]

I disagree with using type n for any part of this repair. It is best to replace with a similar lime mortar even behind the face. Nice flashing and good job hiding that iron. You can add a mortar color to match the old mortar ( I have a basic recipe that usually hits pretty close ). It was a tidy repair although the joints could have been tighter and tooled more to match the older mortar surrounding the repair. Unfortunately the Portland added at the end is unnecessary and detrimental to the performance of the lime mortar. There is no place for Portland in historic masonry repairs. It was a good repair in-spite of these minor details.

[@davebutler4959]

Great job! That home is gorgeous

[@MH-qq3kj]

Beautiful repair. What a craftsman!

[@roccoconte2960]

Nice job , but my Mason laid my brick in mortar on metal lentil 35 years ago and no problem.

[@ronevans852]

Nice job looks really great.

[@williamturns341]

Very nice work.

[@malikdigger4544]

Brick & masonry work yes this is my specialty terrific job by Mark from (TOH)

[@marvinthemartian4740]

Be nice if they did a video on how to repair cinder block walls

[@asegarra5279]

Fantastic work 👍🏼👍🏼

[@eshskis1]

Nice work !

[@kai663]

How does the wall not collapse without the support of the lintel?

[@JoJoTavern]

😂3:09 He new he messed up glad it came apart again

[@Geeven1]

True craftsman 💪🏼

[@runs3492]

Great job 👍

[@pavelow235]

Almost 200 years old. It is a shame homes nowadays are built to last one or two generations only. Not 1000s of years like colonial era homes.

[@emusaurus]

They would cost a fortune

[@brc9064]

Love the period piece- how much in the work is flexible with the historical Society regulations?

[@Ahsankhanxyz]

Mark is good, but he missed the most critical part of matching existing and the historical aspect, once the mortar dries out it will turn really white and that haze will not go away with just a heavy rain, its needs to be acid washed, not wait 10 years so it can then match existing. I have OCD

[@stonesmasher8369]

U have to have ocd to have anything to do with masonry 😅

[@TheAavelar007]

It doesn't look like a pressure treated to me

[@brianfong5711]

7:12 the 2 man lift

[@themalacast]

😂

[@bobwhelk2117]

Very cool!

[@trustone8540]

Bring back bob Vila

[@techniktrix]

Aight, now the next time there's a lintel emergency on my flight, it's my time to shine.

[@loopforwhile]

Bill looks like he just wanted this project to be over with

[@bryankerr9174]

Miracles. A house that old and this is it's biggest problem? Wow.

[@Dino_Buk]

The ghosts are a much bigger problem, but they cannot help him to fix that.

[@alexnunez4019]

Great video

[@jkarasta1]

I wish he’d a shown how he got the mortar between the top of that last brick

[@poeticthoughts06]

Great job!

[@jh4684]

Does this old house make homes anymore? They never post anything new on their channel about it

[@bewater1397]

If my foremen saw this guy make a mess like that it woulda been a rap. Had the bricks dirty with cement at the end no clean job

[@Ryansroga-wm6pj]

Very nice

[@X360KBaller]

Mortar and steel- no deal Mortar and wood- no good

[@BBOYMBB]

Nice

[@tombrehony6277]

Why all the straight joints on the internal wall..?

[@Francois_Dupont]

not even an acid wash?

[@Wild-Storm]

Wheres the old man, he's the face of TOS. Not the same without him

[@beng3345]

Why are people saying this is good? I'd give it a C+ The mortar is still too thick and too light

[@karlbroberg1652]

Completely inappropriate use of portland cement! These properties are supposed to breathe and the mortar should be softer than the brick, which it won't be in this case. Looks good, but may have issues again down the line because of this fix

[@mukhtaralhasan3906]

❤❤

[@soundbwoikilla764]

For the final lime mortar, the portland is superflous but using a mask is not. Also looked awfully wet.

[@lucash1980]

Mortar was almost soup! Also, wet the original brick for good adhesion at the site of repair.

[@themalacast]

oh no he didn't wear all the ppe on earth call the ppe police

[@gregcressey1791]

Lime with no gloves glasses or ppe madness have you seen the damage it can do 😢

[@eddieharding-ej8hj]

Interesting , but not a very good end product . UK

[@mikev.1034]

👍👍

[@alanjohnson8417]

That original repair was shockingly bad.

[@Dino_Buk]

All american old houses are haunted.

[@brookekathryn1980]

Naaa

[@Cypher791]

🧱😊

[@bugtusslealien3931]

Not impressed! His repairs, to me, have always been poor. I'm no brick layer but that could be a repair that I made! 🙄