THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 21, 1996 TAG: 9607190246
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: 84 lines
Maintaining a 200-year-old house is never easy. Doing it right is even harder.
Stop by the Francis Land House on Virginia Beach Boulevard this week and watch Jack Peet do a job right as he and his staff repoint some of the mortar on the historic house, built in the mid 1700s.
Some of the loose, flaking mortar between the bricks is being replaced to prevent moisture from seeping into the 12-inch-thick walls. In other places, Peet is replacing mortar that had been used in the past to repoint but is aesthetically out of tune with the original brick work on the city's historic house.
Instead of hiring just any brick mason to come in to give the mortar a tune-up, as had been done over the years, the city turned to Jack Peet Masonry Inc. of Williamsburg, a firm that specializes in restoration and preservation.
Depending on the weather, Peet and staff will be working on the Francis Land House at least through Wednesday, repointing mortar and repairing brick on about 25 percent of the house. The men work high up on scaffolding and down on the ground, gouging out the old mortar and replacing it with a mixture that resembles the mortar Colonial brick masons used.
The men also work with tools that make the finish look historic, too. For example, Colonial masons used a strike tool that made a distinctive straight line through the center of the mortar. Because 18th century brick could be slightly irregular, the arrow-straight strike line gave a semblance of order to the brick work. Peet has fashioned a modern tool from a 1/2-inch metal bar with a rough cut blade which will make a strike similar to an 18th century mark.
Peet and company are dealing with one hidden problem at the Francis Land House, as at all historic buildings, that has less to do with aesthetics and more to do with structure. Almost all of the Land House bricks were made by hand more than 200 years ago, probably by a mason who worked on the site for the Land family.
Old brick is softer than modern brick so a ``forgiving mortar,'' as they say in the trade, must be used. A forgiving mortar is one that does not expand and contract too rapidly in heat and cold, a phenomenon that can crack or break the soft, old brick.
Peet mixes a lime-based mortar that has a lot of the same properties of the early mortars. While he works with an industrial lime, early colonists used ground oyster shells that are made of the mineral, too.
Of course, Peet also works to match the texture and color of the original mortar left on the building, knowing that it will have to weather. Where the bricks are broken and must be replaced, Peet also is using handmade bricks that have the rough-hewn effect of old brick.
Peet has worked in restoration and preservation for more than 10 years. Although this is his first job in Virginia Beach, he has worked on historic structures across the state and in North Carolina, among them
Christ Church near Saluda, Rosewell Ruins in Gloucester County, Stratford Hall in Stratford and Brandon Plantation near Turbeville.
Restoring and preserving historic structures is not an exact science and Peet has found that he and his staff spend time trying to ``read'' old buildings to get a feel for them. They look for subtle distinctions in the brick and wonder why, for example, the Land House bricks are 1/2 to an inch longer and smoother than most Colonial bricks.
``We spend a lot of time thinking and talking about it,'' he said, ``figuring out what the building's got to say.''
Visit the Land House this week and open your eyes to those subtle distinctions. As Land House administrator Mark Reed said, ``It all blends in from far away, but when you look at it up close, you see lots of variations.''
P.S. FUN-damentals of Fiber Arts is the family program from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Francis Land House. Kids can learn about washing, carding and spinning wool and watch as herbs are used to dye cloth over an open fire. The on-going program is free with admission to the house and you can check out the masonry work, too, if the weather is good. Call 431-4000.
POPSICLE PUZZLES with a marine theme is the topic of a children's craft night from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Virginia Marine Science Museum. The fee is $6 for museum members and $8 for non-members. Call 437-6003. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know
about Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555.
Enter category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by MARY REID BARROW
Jack Peet, above, and employee Allen Clary repair mortar at the
Francis Land House, using a strike tool to match the distinctive
straight line made by Colonial masons. by CNB