recycling with rik

“The only thing worse than the roads in Spokane are its chimneys,” laughs Pat Carbaugh. But thar’s gold in them thar hills for Carbaugh – he’s a masonry specialist.

Many of Spokane’s chimneys have one of two problems, Carbaugh says: old brick and old mortar; or old brick and new mortar. According to Carbaugh, the bulk cement used at the turn of the 20th century was a lime-sand-mortar mix. After 100 years it’s soft and breaking down. That’s Problem No. 1.

Problem No. 2: In the ‘70s when buildings came down for Expo, Carbaugh says a lot of old brick came on the market. It was inexpensive and contractors and homeowners bought it for new chimneys and veneers. So it got used a lot. But it was laid with the wrong mortar.

Carbaugh points out that the hardness-rating of the old brick is 1,500 psi while that of the new mortar is 2,500-3,000 psi. The rule of thumb, he says, is that the mortar should be softer than the brick. That way, when the chimney or wall is exposed to moisture, the moisture wicks to the mortar.

“You want the mortar to take the punishment of the weather,” he says. “It’s easier and cheaper to replace the mortar through tuck-pointing than to replace the brick.” With new harder mortar, he says, repairs require roto-hammers and saws with diamond blades. That makes restoration and repair not only more difficult, but more expensive.

Carbaugh was trained as a union bricklayer in Sacramento, Calif. After a 4-1/2 year apprenticeship, he moved here to work on the construction of the Airway Heights Correctional Facility.

Over the years Carbaugh built up his own collection of tools – scaffolding, saws, mixers, ladders – and 10 years ago went into business by himself. He says he picked restoration because there was tons of work.

“Chimneys are easy to spot,” he says. “They stick out like sore thumbs.”

Less visible, but equally in need of repair, he says, are many buildings’ foundations.

“In Spokane, there are a lot of stone foundations. Basalt rock. Stacked. These leak because, again, the lime-sand-mortar mix was used and freeze-thaw cycles and moisture penetration have destroyed it,” he says.

Once a foundation begins to leak, more leakage is encouraged, Carbaugh says.

“Little rivers are established into the house,” he says. The remedy is to dig around the foundation and regrout the rock with type S mortar.

“If you only attack it from the inside, moisture still gets in behind the wall,” he says. “Moisture seeks heat and a basement is warm.”

As further prevention, Carbaugh recommends having a good gutter system that carries the water away from the foundation. He also advises minimizing the amount of vegetation around the foundation as that attracts moisture, too.

Carbaugh enjoys the challenges of his profession.

“I’m repairing fine craftsmanship from 100 years ago,” he says. “The old-school masons are gone and they took most of their trade secrets with them. Taking apart their work to repair it, I get to see how it was built. I’m learning all the time, increasing my skills.”

Those skills were put to test on the renovation of the Gable Apartments on Broadway, west of the Courthouse. On that Kirtland Cutter building, Carbaugh tore down the retaining wall, stairs and chimney and rebuilt them using the same materials.

Recently he was called in to work on a South Hill turn-of-the-century home. Its chimney and chimney foundation had failed. Carbaugh tore both out, laid a new foundation and reconstructed the chimney using the original design, the original dark clinker brick, and a compatible mortar.

“One of my passions is getting things repaired right,” Carbaugh says. “You could not get it right and maybe in your lifetime no one would notice. But down the line …”

Carbaugh is concerned about historical preservation and the reuse of salvaged historical materials.

“In some ways, I feel I’m like an artist,” he says. “An artist who uses 50-pound stone brushes.”