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(EMAILWIRE.COM, February 17, 2010 ) Oakland County, MI -- Mark Allen Maupin of Brick Repair LLC, met with a group of quality conscious contractors at a luncheon in Oakland County, MI, to discuss the steps necessary for chimney repair and masonry construction in the winter. Mark went over the pros and cons of having masonry construction done in the winter and in colder climates.
Mark explained that there were four major methods to ensure quality work in an unfriendly climate. Mark said, “While these steps will ensure a quality masonry repair there are limitations. Unless working in a heated enclosure I do not recommend doing masonry work when it hits less than 15 degrees outside. You may think 15 degrees is way too cold for masonry construction but after 12 years of working as a masonry contractor in Michigan, I have developed techniques to combat the cold.”
The first step, Mark explained, was whenever he was doing masonry work in the winter he used warm dry materials. In order to ensure warm dry materials, Mark would take a propane torch or torpedo heater and blow it through and on the brick he was going to lay. He would preheat the brick until they were very warm to the touch.
Mark said, “My hands stay nice and warm while I’m laying brick in the winter because all of the brick that I lay are roasting hot. I actually have to wear my gloves to keep my fingers from being burnt. This may sound silly but when every brick you lay sizzles as it hits the mortar you know your brick are going to set up well. 50% of a masonry wall’s strength is achieved in its initial set so I want to make sure my walls set up when I lay them in the winter.”
The second step to Mark’s method is to use an antifreeze or mortar accelerator to speed up the mortar’s set and cure time. Mark also said, “I like to use warm water when mixing my mortar because this also helps the wall set up. Getting your materials to set is really the key to masonry repair in the winter.”
The third step Mark went on to explain is once he has removed the excess mortar from between the bricks, commonly referred to as jointing, he blows heat on the wall again. Doing this ensures the masonry wall will stay warm and set up properly.
The fourth and final step to ensure quality masonry repair during the winter is to build a heated enclosure. Mark describes, “Any time we have a larger construction project going on in the winter the best method is to build a heated enclosure. We do this by wrapping large poly tarps around our scaffold. We then blow heat in the enclosure and perform our http://michiganchimneyrepair.com/WintersandMichiganMasonry.aspx .
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Brick Repair LLC
Mark
248-895-7752
Brickrepairrllc@gmail.com 
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