HERITAGE STONE FOUNDATION RESTORATION
9 Feb
2017
PRESERVING HISTORY, AND YOUR HOME
By: Austin Harril
Ottawa's historical neighborhoods like the Glebe, Old Ottawa, Centretown, etc. have homes of a unique design that exemplify the unique character and heritage of Ottawa. The old saying, "they don't make them like they used to" rings true with these old building, and explains a large part of the reason that these homes are so sought-after.
With the unique benefits of owning a completely unique, historical home, come unique costs. Historical building methods no longer practiced, coupled with generations of wear-and-tear, make maintenance and repair a tricky situation. Modern foundations are rarely longer built with the stone-and-mortar techniques common to Ottawa's heritage homes, and when they are, they utilize materials entirely different from what historical masons would be familiar with. This makes preserving the unique aesthetics of a heritage home difficult, as masons trained to preserve the historical character of a heritage foundation are few and far between.
A foundation re-pointing performed by an expert in Ottawa's heritage foundations can last 30-100 years. A bad one can ruin your foundation.
Nick Ford - Owner of Integrity Masonry
On the one hand, you want to preserve the history of your foundation, but you don't want to do it with methods and materials inappropriate for 2017. Simple things like road and sidewalk salt can massively accelerate the degradation of historical mortar, as it was not engineered to accommodate it as today's mortar is. And so on the other hand, you want a foundation that utilizes today's innovations to provide maximum value, but not at the cost of the unique aesthetics of your home!
Integrity's job is to navigate this gap in technology to provide you a quality foundation without disturbing the natural character of your home. Our extensive training and experience in heritage restoration provides us the means, materials, and understanding necessary to balance these two important considerations. By navigating the full breadth of available techniques and materials, historical and contemporary, we perfectly maintain the unique aesthetics of your property while also improving it capacity to withstand the unique circumstances of 2017 and beyond!
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