Restoring Houses of Brick and Stone

I think this book is a marvelous resource for homeowners who wish to better understand their old brick homes. I bought it for a future resource & reference, because just we purchased a 130+ year old brick house. This book is stuffed with practical information about how to maintain and restore these old structures. Sure, the language can be complicated, and it's sort of like following along at the shoulder of a building inspector as he ruminates about construction techniques. Suggestions range from cheap to authentic restoration, and there are mortar and other recipes in the back. There are also many good black and white photos thoughout the book. There's good discussion of old plastering techniques, and you can see in the photo what plaster and lathe looks like without having it fall from your own walls. I think this book would help other owners of old brick houses to figure out the reasoning behind what's inside their interior and exterior walls.

This book has one of the most thorough treatments of masonry techniques I've encountered. It covers subjects for which information often proves difficult to find, e.g. restoration of antique stone fireplaces. It has lots of detail yet covers a wide range of pertinent subjects. All this and the author has a readable style and interesting stories. I would enjoy meeting these people.