Masonry Contractors to Masonry Repair
Alamo Masonry Repair (AMR) began as a local masonry contractor performing new construction and specializing in custom stone works building
patios, waterfalls, archways, retaining walls, fireplaces, and other new masonry structures including brick and stone homes and commercial
block buildings with brick and stone veneer. Around '97 or '98 Alamo Masonry Repair started to lean away from the new construction and specialize
in repair of masonry cracks and damage as we saw the need for masonry repair services that focused on the details and made a true effort to do
masonry repair right, and not just a patch over the cracks. When we specialized in masonry repair, we changed our name to this focus. As with any
major transition, it was not easy focusing on masonry repair. We had a lot to learn.
Matching Mortar for Masonry Repair
We quickly realized that there was far more to
matching mortar for masonry repair than just adding some pigment to color the mortar.
What we found is that most mortars had faded or darkened from their base tone of grey or white. This seemed easy enough to compensate and perform
the masonry repairs, but we quickly found problems with the masonry repair industry standard of mixing some from a bag of grey mortar and some
from a bag of white mortar to adjust this tone. While the blending of grey and white is the only way to match this tone, Alamo Masonry Repair
learned that we could not do this with the pre-mixed bags of mortar without changing the ratio of binding materials and mortar type. This was
evident in changes of color and hardness in one batch to the next on the same masonry repair project where we knew that we had measured the
exact same amounts from each container.
When we found this, we began research into how this could happen, and the answer was simple. The binding
materials have dramatically different weights, and when placed into a bucket and vibrated in transport, these materials separated into layers
inside the bucket that we could not see. These studies led us into other research to better improve the industry of masonry repair, but
we identified that to blend the grey and white tones you must mix the binding materials in proper proportions for the mortar type ratio on your
own and not use pre-mixed bags to blend.
As Alamo Masonry Repair (AMR) continued to research, I was reminded of my formal studies in chemistry and lab works. I had finally found a way
to apply the things learned in school to the career I grew up in.
Masonry Repair Services
Alamo Masonry Repair began offering
mortar analysis and matching services
to our customers to accurately identify the mortar type and compressive strength of their mortar in addition to the color matching services.
Over the next ten years, we became not only the first to specialize in nothing but masonry repair, but as we gained competition, we became the
most trusted name in masonry repair due to the practice of matching mortars completely and the professional masonry repair services we provided.
While the goal of Alamo Masonry Repair was to provide quality masonry repair, we also wanted to improve the industry and provide all customers
the highest level of quality for masonry repair, and realized this was not
possible on our own. We could only train so many crews to do masonry
repair the right way. So in an effort to reach more customers and provide them the best in masonry repair, we opened our lab services to our
competitors and homeowners. This quickly took hold, but it began to create a conflict to compete in the local masonry repair industry.
Masonry Repair in Dallas Fort Worth
This led Alamo Masonry Repair to change our name to AMR Labs, release our masonry repair training
manual and bags of custom made premixed pointing
mortar to the public, and step back and out of onsite masonry repair services allowing us to provide AMR products and services nationally. We
have leased our website for local masonry repair in the Dallas Fort Worth area to a young promising business that seems to put forth the effort
to providing high quality masonry repair services and competitive pricing.
For masonry repair services in the Dallas Fort Worth area, visit:
http://dfwbrickrepair.com and request an estimate.
We provide testing and matching masonry repair services across the U.S.
call:
(817) 366-8376
*AMR Labs*
1525 Corona Dr.
Granbury, TX 76048
Or email us:
mortarlab@gmail.com
Locating Bricks
While locating the brick
for your home, you will need to know how many brick you will
need. Identify the type of brick used for your home. You may need more than
one type of brick to complete all repairs.
Some brick are hard to find, generally, due to their age. Brick companies discontinue a series of brick after a short period. This keeps their selection new, but it often makes it difficult to locate replacement bricks for your home. In many cases, they sell their excess brick of a discontinued blend to clear out inventory to recycled brickyards and brick repair contractors. Recycled brickyards carry many of the rarest brick in the market; anything from discontinued brick to antique brick that have been recycled from other brick buildings or structures.
Knowing where to look to find these brick is one of the most important factors to being able to repair the brick around your home. People have been able to locate the proper brick to match their home by contacting a brick repair company. Some of the better masonry restoration companies warehouse a variety of these rare bricks. They store the bricks that are the hardest to find, and have locations all across the United States that they deal with to locate any other rare brick on the market.
Not all brick types are that difficult to locate. In just about every major city, there are one or more antique brick dealers, recycled brickyards and regular brickyards. Simply by checking your local phone book, you are likely to find a dealer with your type of brick. In some cases, you may need to look in other major cities in order to find a proper match. This process is sometimes very time consuming, and is perhaps easier to have a brick restoration company locate these brick for your repairs. They may know exactly where to find your brick.
If you are unable to locate your type of brick in any of these locations, you may be able to find the brick in certain areas around your home. Often extra brick is used as filler in areas such as columns, chimneys and mailboxes. The easiest place to remove brick from is the chimney. You can remove the mortar cap and take out any brick needed. Broken brick may be replaced in the chimney before replacing the mortar cap. If you still are unable to locate brick for your home, it may be necessary to reuse the existing brick. The gap is closed by cleaning the mortar around the brick and shifting closer together to reduce the width of the crack.
Copyright © 2007 James R. Nech/Alamo Masonry. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Brick Repair Guide - This is the
best and most complete do it yourself guide to brick
repair. Written by the leading expert in this field, it will help you to locate replacement bricks if needed, determine which
materials are needed, how to match your mortar, and more.