Walking through the new civic center downtown and the brickwork is... interesting.

They used this super thin, almost paper-like mortar joint on the entire facade. It looks clean from a distance, but up close you can see how fragile it is, with hairline cracks already forming. Has anyone else worked with that style and found a way to keep it from failing so fast?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_shane2mo agoMost Upvoted

Totally agree, it looks slick but won't last! Ben402 is right about the winter making it worse. I saw the same thing on that new condo building on Maple.

ben4022mo ago

That super thin joint is a real problem on a lot of new builds. I saw it on the library expansion over on 5th, and the cracks were worse after just one winter. Did the architects specify a special mortar mix, or did the masons just go with a standard type S and rake it back too far?

king.jordan21d ago

ben402 mentioned the mortar mix, and yeah, I used to think thin joints just looked cleaner and that was worth the trade off. But walking by that building myself a few days ago and seeing those hairline cracks already spreading changed my mind fast.