This beautiful old house on Chimborazo Hill has a porch with some severe problems. An installation of a new porch deck was carried out within the last year, but as we discovered, there were many things done that -- coupled with a massive water main problem -- created a serious issue in stability.

This picture and the one following show the extent of the damage caused to the brick piers. There are two major elements at play here: First, the previous contractor failed to prime all sides of the decking boards, which allows for water penetration and rot, as well as dimensional changes with humidity. Second, a water main rupture sprayed the underside of the boards, leading to severe swelling and movement, enough that it pushed the brickwork sideways. Both piers at the left end of the porch were leaning out of true by as much as 1.5 inches from top to bottom. This equates to a huge blow to the integrity of the columns, considering the porch roof weighs over two tons. The yellow arrow is pointing to the fact that a scant 1/2 inch of brick running down the middle of this pier is all that is preventing it from toppling outward to the left.

As shown in this picture, it was discovered that several supports were built by the previous contractor, of UNTREATED lumber, in contact with the ground, and anchored insufficiently by screwing them into crumbling mortar joints. In almost every case, what a craftsman does for the world to see is not nearly as important as what he does behind the scenes.

The new brick pilaster pier rebuilt completely from the ground up, and the capstone re-seated. Once the mortar has set properly, the plinth block and pilaster will be reattached, and the jack-posts removed.

CHECK BACK TO SEE THE END RESULTS!