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That customer who asked me to fix a brick wall that was 20 years old
A guy came into my shop last month with a photo of a retaining wall his dad built back in 2003 that was starting to bulge out. He wanted me to just patch it up instead of tearing it down and starting over. Has anyone else had to explain to a customer that old brickwork sometimes needs a full rebuild to be safe?
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wadefoster3d ago
Nope, patch jobs on old walls always bite you later.
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mason.mark1d ago
and honestly that depends way more on what you're patching with than the age of the wall. if you're slapping drydex spackle over a six inch hole in plaster and lath, you're asking for trouble no matter what year the house was built. but modern setting-type joint compound with fiberglass mesh tape actually bonds better to old materials than new drywall sometimes because the lime in old plaster gives it a grip most modern stuff can't match. the real trick nobody talks about is matching the patch's flexibility to the substrate, not just hiding the crack. have you ever tried a plaster washered screw approach for deeper holes in those old walls?
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