So sad about the tree in front. All the rest is great news and terrific pix. Thanks for sharing!

Too bad those cypress trees couldn't have been limbed up, but now they're history and your trees should be much happier.

Rotten oaks are no fun ... especially when they fall on a car or worse a house. Is the city planting the cherry tree? Will they have to wait awhile for the oak's roots to rot. I'm having that issue with a couple pines we lost from Hurricane Gustav. The stumps were ground, but those roots are still solid and won't let me dig.

Dang, can't you find anything productive to do this summer?

You are one brave lady to tackle the brick project.

It is heart breaking to see such an old tree go. I would be sick too.

Kathy

I hope the sick was just because of loosing the tree....

Yours is the classic story of "one thing leads to another!"

Looks like you are doing a super job and won't it look wonderful when completed. Be sure and show us. I do appreciate others hard work!

Once again that planting too close problem. When we took out the Yews that were about 12 inches from the foundation. All the steel siding was so mildewed that I had to use a scrub brush with cleaner to clean it up.

That surely is a whole lot of change! I'm jealous about your front porch. I want a front porch make-over for the pink house but I don't want to pay someone to do it...so maybe this fall/winter. We have CARPET on that ruddy porch. YUCK! I want nice paint like you!
I'm sorry about your tree. It was a pretty tree, there's nothing like some age on a tree - but the Yoshino will be so pretty in the spring.
Leylands are, in our climate often an accident waiting to happen when they get older. I had 5 removed that kept splitting and cracking in wind and stormy weather. We were afraid they'd go into my neighbors yard. However, you can't beat them for quick growth!!
I can't wait to see the changes as things move along!!

Ah, summer projects. Why do people always plant smack up against the property line with something that is going to be huge-normous in just a few years?

Glad you can have the big oak safely removed before it falls over.

Don't get too hot out there. You sure have a lot going on, for August.

Nell

I'm moving my leylands this winter. They're still young enough. I planted them way too close to the wall. I'm going to go with shrubs here instead. The leylands will get mixed into the edge of the wild where I need to block streetlights, etc.

But your description of how you decided to do all this instead of just what you started with made me laugh. The mattock came out of the garage this morning for me too. I really hadn't planned on digging any holes when I started. By the time I was done, I had dug about 20 from tiny to ginormous.

I lost a tree recently too. Mine fell, but at least it didn't hit anything, not even the Mahonia right under it.

Ya'll are all so sweet. So more details . The Water Oak was approx 150 years old. It was on city property so they had the final say so as to removal. I have lots of pics to show the rot inside the tree. All the limbs that were toward the house were hollow. Still very sad though. But I have a present from the tree guys....but I broke my camera at the end of the day. So pics will follow after I get it fixed. It was a GREAT present.

The Yoshino will be wonderful. The Leylands were hideous...and looked as you can see so bad when limbed up so they had to go. I am so happy that I can cover the fence with ROSES and CLEMATIS !! Yeah !!

As far as one thing leading to another...you just have no idea LOL...oh yeah you are all gardeners...you DO know :) I also managed to get another coat on the little house porch and will finish the side porch tomorrow. It was 94 here today. I felt great all day as far as health goes. I am used to running and biking in the heat and there is the pool...thank goodness.

Thank you cyn...more pics to follow.

Natal . the city is in charge and will grind the stump. It is HUGE !!

Kathy just crazy not brave :) The elastomeric is like buttercream frosting and dries in 30 minutes. it is a terrific product.

gldno you know how crazy people are about planting right up on the fence and house...like Tom says you have to move it later. I will definitely post lots more pics .

GGG you come on over and have a seat. You will love that elastomeric for patching..it is amazing. I wanna see pics of the porch redo. Also do you go to Holy Taco in midtown ? We love it and the organic foods are wonderful.

Nell I have to make up for all the time I was playing in NYC....I wish I knew why folks did lots of things they do :)

I saw your tree too. Wait till you see what I got from mine...you can do the same with yours and we can compare notes !! c

Argh - you don't really want me to tell you what you really should've used for repointing, do you... Tho, I have to admit, I've never heard of using elastomeric, so maybe it isn't a problem. At least it sounds like it would be very flexible. The big thing with old brick is that they traditionally used a very soft lime mortar that was very flexible. Also, old bricks tend to be very soft, too. And, you want your mortar to be softer than the brick, so the mortar joints go first and not the brick. Plus, you want the water to flow out of the mortar joints, and not get trapped inside the brick.

I guess I need to go find out more about this elastomeric stuff...

Ok, so I did a little bit of digging. I found one reference to the practice here: http://masonryconstructiononline.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=790&articleID=737725&artnum=2

"The partial replacement of mortar joints (repointing) with elastomeric sealants was viewed as a remedial effort to waterproof the building envelope. During the 1970s and 1980s, manufacturers of elastomeric sealants (caulking) recommended this application as a maintenance item which they viewed as a waterproof barrier and superior to repairs using conventional repointing mortar.

Since the mid-1980s, this approach to masonry envelope repair has been disproved with the understanding that mass masonry walls must be capable of dissipating moisture from within wall and parapet assemblies. The unfortunate installation of sealants into all of the granite joints accelerated deterioration of the granite parapet assemblies. This situation created the need to disassemble them and replace both the deteriorated bedding mortar and corroded copper flashing."

I guess that's why I hadn't learned about this particular technique, since I got my preservation training in the 1990's.

I hope the amount you used was small enough to allow water to continue to weep out in other areas. The two things I'd worry about would be mold behind the brick, or water freezing and then popping off the face of the brick (spalling). I'd probably leave it for now - but definitely keep an eye out for problems down the road. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you...

That is very interesting stuff. We are talking a 3 " spot here and a 1" spot there and a 6 " spot here. No biggie unless you are tring to paint and have all this red clay falling out. Since the paint is in perfect condition as are the bricks in 99% of the area I don't think this will have any impact at all. I am glad you told me though.

What should I have used...for future reference? Also what should I use on this wall to give a good base for painting ? Note that pressure washing or sandblasting are not an option , at all. Most of the finish is fine but I want to paint it and not disturb the paint that is intact. Thanks for any help you can give. I am always interested in learning. Caroline

{{gwi:634613}}

I don't think I've ever heard of a water oak living that long! Usually they've rotted to the core and fallen over by the time they're 70 or 80. I've often heard they grow fast for 30 years and then slowly die for the next 30.

Here is a link that might be useful: water oaks

WHOA !! Natal that is so true ! No wonder it broke up. The trunk was 4 ft across !!!! The entire street was arched over with them until the hurricane in the mid 70's . It took out most of them at that time. Well I am glad I had it this long. I will have to post the pics of the rotten centers in the limbs that were over my house. There are pics of the street and the tree so we know how old it is fairly closely. At least w/in a few decades.

Turns out my patching job has not worked and my brick guy is coming on Monday to look at them. Sigh...at least there are not too many places that need repointing. Will keep everyone posted...c

I am too scared to plant or live near large heavy trees. I only plant small ones now like crapemyrtle, redbud.
Too many hurricanes in my past.
Also heard today on the radio a freak accident, a tree fell on a mobile home killing a 14 yr old child, no storm or wind, but perhaps it was rotten, they didn't say. That is so sad.

Caroline -

Well, technically, you should get your mortar analyzed and match it. Hardly any actually does that for minor repointing when it isn't a landmark sort of building. Ideally, the replacement mortar should be lime-based mortar (assuming the building is actually 120 years old as you said), or at least a relatively weak mortar. One important thing is to do it by hand, not to damage the brick when taking out the old mortar. Some masons understand how to repoint/tuckpoint old masonry better than others.

I have to admit, I don't know the best technique for preparing brick to be painted. Most of my training left it as only paint brick that has already been painted before - but I'm not sure the best way to prep it. Sandblasting is bad for the surface of the brick, so don't do that! Pressure washing is risky, also - you can get a ton of water inside that then has to eventually get out somehow. This Old House may have some good information. Ds is trying to get me to play Wii with him, so I'll have to check back tomorrow...

Well the house and porch were built in 1890 so we know how old ir is and I have old Opelika brick in a pile so I know how soft it is. I am very lucky that it is small areas. The problem is I should have left it alone and called 1st. Now all of it is under the crud I put on....will see . I will let you know how it goes. Lesson 1 ...call pro.