Tooth Brushes for Cleaning Masonry

We have been working, at a location in Manhattan, on rebuilding a small terra
cotta gable for too long now, almost two years.  All along the way we have had
to deal with a customer that is irritated, partly because we cannot seem to
get the thing done, and partly because the design professional charges by the
hour.  If only they had thought to design the project before doing it rather
than on our time after we got started.  We have done our damnedest to keep
civil during this process, and we have attended far too many meetings for such
a small pile of masonry.  The Empire State was built in two years.

The idea of design build in historic preservation makes me want to barf.
Usually what it means is that the contractor gets to build at fixed cost, with
a customer complaining about time and production, while the designer designs
hourly.

The design professional in this case appears to be stupidly insecure.  Every
step of the way they ask for unheard of amounts of materials testing.  I
cannot begin to tell you how much trouble we went through on the sand sieve
analysis, which we thought was mild compared to what we went through on the
brick and terra cotta.  It seems that not a single supplier of sand in the NYC
area, or within 50 miles, supplied sand to meet their specifications and with
the appropriate color.  We would have done better to salvage our sand from the
original mortar - except we were not smart enough to think of it ahead of time
and threw the mortar away.  The design professional's insecurity does not help
the fact that we took the project with an unseasoned management team... at
least unseasoned to the idea that they may have to spend more time in CYA than
actually getting the work done.  Some people actually are born to believe in
common sense and that to build means to build, not to write letters.  This is
the kind of project that keeps good contractors from volunteering their
services.  It is also the kind of project that gives a bad name to the young
conservators coming out of the university programs.

The gable is 160' feet in the air and we just got word, this is no joke, that
we are to clean it using toothbrushes and razor blades.

"As discussed earlier today at the site, razor blades can be used to remove
excess mortar from the face of the bricks in conjunction with the use of non-
bleach Cascade or Bartender's Friend for cleaning.  The masonry is to be
soaked with warm water for ten minutes prior to using the razor blade for
scraping.  The surface of the brick should be wetted constantly during any
procedures.  Brushing of the surface should be carried out with small non-
metallic brushes (toothbrushes or similar size).  Brush size is to be limited
due to the relatively small surface area of the brick relative to the mortar
and to prevent the scrubbing of the mortar joints."

Orally the instructions went further to specify use of "stiff" toothbrushes.
I'm surprised that we were not required to find non-metallic razor blades.
Heaven forbid if a pigeon poops on the masonry after we leave.

We are so sick of this one project that we are going ahead with this method of
cleaning simply in the hopes that someday soon it will all go away.  We will
follow up with graphics of the workers brushing after the photos are
developed. The task proceeds today.

If anyone wants to know the design professional or the customer in order to
verify that this is NOT fiction then contact me back channel.

][<en Follett