Sunday, June 3, 2007

I can repoint my bungalow!

Well, at least I see that it's not difficult at all to do--it'll just be time-consuming. Our face-brick definitely needs a repointing in spots. Now, instead of hiring someone to do it, I know how to do it myself. Including how to mix up a good mortar from scratch, rather than using the pre-mixed stuff sold in hardware stores. This is great. :)

I learned this, along with a bunch of other tips, at the "Caring for Your Bungalow" seminar that the HCBA hosted. It was in a bungalow near Cicero and Diversey, for those of you who know Chicagoland...very different-shaped bungalow, inside in particular. At least, different in my eyes, and lord knows I've seen loads of them over the years. :)

Anyway, I'm also now reconsidering purchasing replacement windows. I was told by the architectural engineers who ran the seminar that if our wood windows weren't rotting and were in solid shape, wood-wise, we would be smarter to have them restored...either ourselves, or get someone to do it. One of the other attendees recommended a window repair shop not far from my home, actually, so I'm probably going to set up an appointment with him to see if he can simply repair our windows for cheaper. Maybe he could do ALL the windows for the price that replacing five would have cost? We'll see...I hope so. It would be nice to open all these windows in nice weather. :)

2 comments:

Unknown said...

One of my favorite memories as a kid was helping my dad tuckpoint our brick house. :) It's not hard to do!

Anonymous said...

Ohhh, I would loooove to get some tips! Our bungalow has a brick foundation that seems to be crumbling that we would like to repoint. We've looked into the pre-mixed stuff, but if there's any tips at all I would love to hear them.

- Steffi - www.westendbungalow.com