The Problem
The homeowners of a 1926 Tudor cottage in Central Lake Bluff called us to assess some crumbling mortar they had noticed on the south facade. What looked from the street like isolated joint failures turned into something larger once we got on scaffold and ran probe tests. The south facade was in the condition the homeowners suspected: about 30 percent of the joints in the upper two-thirds were recessed 1/2 inch or more. The north and west facades were worse. Probe testing at 24 locations across all four elevations found that 68 percent of tested joints allowed the probe to penetrate 5/8 inch or deeper. On a 1926 cottage with original soft brick and a lime mortar system, that level of failure across three facades meant water was working behind the surface on most of the structure. Spot-patching would have covered the problem visually without solving it.
Our Solution
We presented the probe results to the homeowners with the data by facade and elevation so they could see exactly what the testing showed. They approved a full four-facade scope the same week.
All joints were raked to 3/4-inch minimum depth using hand grinders with diamond blades set to depth stops, and hand chisels at the half-timbered panel boundaries where power tools cannot reach the junction without risk to the stucco panels. The Tudor cottage half-timbered panels on this home are original 1926 stucco and the boundary joints between the timber elements, the brick, and the stucco are narrow and irregular.
The mortar was a Type N lime-blend specified for this project: a higher lime content than standard Type N to keep the finished mortar slightly softer than the original brick. We selected a warm buff-gray sand to match the protected joint color visible in the sheltered area beneath the rear entry overhang. All joints were packed in two lifts and finished with a concave profile consistent with 1920s cottage construction in this area.
At the half-timbered panel boundaries, we used a slightly enriched lime mix to allow more movement accommodation at those junctions. Those joints were finished flush rather than concave because the original detail at those locations was a flush-struck joint.
The Result
All 210 linear feet of joints across four facades are repointed and watertight. Joint color reads as consistent from facade to facade. The half-timbered panel boundaries are sealed at both the brick and stucco faces. What began as a routine inspection turned into a necessary full repair, and the homeowners now have documented proof of condition before and after, including the probe test data by location, for their maintenance records.
