Siding

Homes in Hartney area are typically clad with wooden siding or brick. The exterior wall surfaces are important expressions of the buildings’ character – a character defining element – and every effort should be made to protect and maintain them.

Wood

Replacing the wooden siding with materials such as vinyl or stucco is not recommended and will compromise the building’s heritage value as well as, in the case of vinyl siding, replacing a reparable, maintainable material with one that cannot be repaired when it fails.

Wood siding in good condition can be maintained almost indefinitely with regular care, and areas of rot can be cut out and replaced. New boards can be milled to match (have a few extras made while you’re at it), or matching siding may be salvaged from a building that is being torn down.


  The siding is over 100 years old. Even though it has been allow to deteriorate, it can be salvaged quite easily some careful scraping and paint.

 
Brick

Hartney’s two brickyards provided the materials for many of Hartney’s heritage homes, giving added historical significance.

 

This 105 year old home features well preserved brick.

Brick should not be painted unless it already has been and is in need of maintenance.

 

If a brick building has been painted it is generally advisable that the paint not be removed.

Although the intention to go back to the original brick finish is good, removing paint from old brick is not recommended. Bricks from the early 20th century were hard on the outside surface, but softer on the inside. If paint removal is undertaken with severe methods such as sand blasting, the bricks will be damaged, the soft interior exposed, and deterioration of the brick will be quick and inevitable. If it is the paint colour that does not suit the character of the building and streetscape, the brick could be painted a similar colour to the natural brick under it. Paint can be removed chemically, but this is a costly invasive process.
 
Maintaining Bricks

The following is adapted from on of the many online resources available:
http://www.home-wizard.com/how-to-guide/home-outdoors/brick-siding/articles-videos/brick-siding-care.aspx
For most homes, brick siding requires significantly less maintenance than wood siding. Proper care for your brick requires routine cleaning, protection, and timely repairs.

Routine Cleaning

For general cleaning use a mild detergent, a hose and a brush. Using a power washer will risk damaging your mortar and caulking, and if your brick is painted, power washing painted brick will likely cause the paint to peel or fade.

If lawn or garden sprinklers have left hard-water spots on your home’s brick exterior, these can be removed with an acid-based brick cleaner.

 

To remove stains from vegetation that is growing near or on your brick siding, use oxygen bleach or fungicide solutions. 

If your bricks appear to have a white crystal-looking powder on them, you likely have "efflorescence" which is caused by moisture getting into your bricks and then the dissolved salts evaporating on the surface. Efflorescence can be removed with a stiff bristled broom.

A good cleaner for mold and mildew is a 50/50 mix of oxygen bleach and water. Be sure to use protection for your eyes, hands and skin, cover nearby plantings, and apply with a stiff-bristled nylon brush on an extension handle. And be sure to rinse thoroughly when done.

Rust stains on brick can be caused by ironwork adjacent to your siding, or by particles of ironstone in the mortar leeching out. Rust stains on the brick can usually be cleaned by hard scrubbing with a damp stiff-bristled brush. If the source of the rust is ironwork, then it will need to be cleaned primed and re-sealed. And if it is due to ironstone in the mortar, then the affected mortar areas will need to be repaired in a process called "re-pointing."

Cleaning algae can be done with a mixture of 1 gallon of water and 1 cup of oxygen bleach. Take necessary precautions.

Protecting

Applying a silane-based or siloxane-based sealer to your brick will help prevent moisture-related problems such as efflorescence and spalling. Your brick should be thoroughly cleaned before applying a sealer.

If you have brick sills, ensure that they properly sealed and there are no cracks in the mortar that could allow moisture to seep behind the brick below the sill.

Routinely inspections should consider: signs of water penetrations; that all "weep" holes at the bottoms of the walls are open; that flashing is in place; no cracks forming in mortar; no bulges in the walls; no signs of spalling (face of brick flaking off); no vines creeping up; that caulking is in place and good condition; and there no signs of efflorescence, mildew, or other stains.

Vines and ivy look beautiful on brick walls, but their roots can work their way into loose mortar, and cause it to loosen it further. In addition, they can climb onto nearby woodwork, and bring insects and moisture which will cause rotting and other problems.

 
Repairing / Repointing

If sections of your brick wall have begun to bow outward, it is likely that moisture has gotten behind the wall and caused the mortar to deteriorate around the wall ties that hold the brick onto the side walls.

If the mortar between your bricks has begun to crack and deteriorate, then it will need to be repaired in a process called "re-pointing." 

Spalling is when the face of the bricks begins to crack off. This is typically caused by moisture getting into the brick, freezing, and then 1/8 to 1/4 inch of the surface separates and falls off. Affected bricks will need to be replaced (or sometimes they can be turned around), and the source of the moisture needs to be remedied.


 

A well-designed window is enhanced by the brick siding and trim.