Brick Building Earthquake Warning

Update 10-15-2017 New Madrid Fault Activity

Should the people of St.Louis be concerned? 2017 Solar Eclipse follows the line of the North American Rift and since the New Madrid Fault line is located in this general area. Yes, I feel it is proactive to be aware of the situation at the minimum.

Solar Eclipse and the North American Rift will it affect the New Madrid Fault?



I hope, have prayed, and will do a little more praying in the days to come that the Madrid Fault does not move from its current location. The Brick and Masonry buildings around town that were built during the World Fair held in St.Louis years and years ago were not constructed with steel reinforcement when the brick buildings were built.

StLouis Worlds Fair Brick Building History Lesson: There were many clues for determining the age of the building. When St Louis hosted the Worlds Fair.  The city planners realized that housing was going to be needed for everyone and started building many of the brick homes that are still being utilized all over the city today....Either way when you have the type of brick as the ones in this building you have a building using bricks that were made in the Late 1800s or early 1900s. 

This means that any lateral or sideways movement could allow for the collapse of many of the brick buildings around town. The Buildings were not constructed using modern day building practices and did not have metal support or bracing in the mortar that holds the bricks in place. 

Masonry / Brick Buildings without steel reinforcement are made for compression strength. When steel reinforcement is added it will support lateral or sideways strength see image Masonry Constructed Safe Room Design.

Masory Lateral or Sideways Support is provided by the Steel Reinforcment

Here is what could happen to the Buildings in StLouis in an Earth Quake:

Brick Wall Collapse Images and Repair St Louis Masonry Buildings

1. When the ground moves the buildings will also move: up, down, sideways, back and forth. 
2. The movement will cause the mortar or glue that holds the old bricks together to come loose. 
3. This could cause the walls of a masonry brick building to come tumbling down as in the image above. 
4. For your own safety: Vacate or Leave the Premise or Move away from exterior walls and vacate the top floor of the building if an Earthquake does happen in St.Louis.

St.Louis Brick Building collapse images used in infographic were copied from ONSL.org http://onsl.org/



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Importance of Keystone,Springers,Voussoirs-Architectural Arches StLouis Brick Building

Keystone (architecture)

Decorative Lion Head Keystone

Location of Keystone-Architectural Arch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: 

A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone piece 

at the apex of a masonry vault or arch, which 

is the final piece placed during construction 

and locks all the stones into position, allowing 

the arch to bear weight. 

Although a masonry arch or vault cannot be 

self-supporting until the keystone is placed, 

the keystone experiences the least stress 

of any of the voussoirs, 

due to its position at the apex.

Keystone, Springers, Voussoirs StLouis Brick Building

Voussoir

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A voussoir (pronounced /vuˈswɑr/) is a wedge-shaped element, 

typically a stone, used in building an arch or vault.

Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, 

two units are of distinct functional importance: 

the keystone and the springer. 

• The keystone is the center stone or masonry unit 

            at the apex of an arch. 

• The springer is the lowermost voussoir, 

located where the curve of the arch springs from the 

vertical support or abutment of the wall or pier.

The word is a mason's term borrowed in Middle English from 

French verbs connoting a "turn" (OED). Each wedge-shaped 

voussoir turns aside the thrust of the mass above, transferring 

it from stone to stone to the springer's bottom face ('impost'), 

which is horizontal and passes the thrust on to the supports. 

Voussoir arches distribute weight efficiently and take maximum 

advantage of the compressive strength of stone, as in an arch bridge.

In Eastern Romanesque and Arab architecture the voussoirs are 

often in alternating colors, usually red and white.

During the 18th and 19th centuries British bricklayers became 

aware that by thickening the vertical mortar joint between regularly 

shaped bricks from bottom to top they could construct an elliptical 

arch of useful strength over either a standard 'former' or over 

specially constructed timber false work, (work to be removed following 

the construction of the prime). The bricks used in such an arch 

are often referred to as 'voussoirs'.

Repairing the Brick Hole from Tree Damage

The tree roots having been long removed from the brick wall.  The Crew and I moved onto laying the bricks in the hole in the wall.  We laid 2 courses of bricks in the hole.  I estimated that there was between 550-650 bricks used to fill this spot and 10 bags of Pro Mix Mortar from Raineri Building Materials.

Setting up the Scaffolding for Brick Repair-StLouis Brick Home

Applying a stucco finish after the brick wall repair

Thursday-With just a few more spots to finish the stucco finish and a clean up- we've almost got this project under wraps.  In the next post I will share a little History of the Building.  {Hint} Its quite interesting and goes back to the Horse-Buggy Days and Firemen.

Friday Final Tree Damage Repair Video

Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Reducing Needs Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog

Pt1 Spray Foam Insulation StLouis Brick Building

 To help educate the people of StLouis against future problems in regard to: Air Quality, Durability, and Creature Comforts I put together: Part One-Basement, Crawl Space, Stone Foundation Insulation Series on: Cost Effective:Energy Conservation for StLouis Brick Buildings [ where, how and why with suggested solutions in regard to spray foam insulation.]

Recently I've had a couple of requests to "Spray Foam" Insulate a StLouis Brick Home with Spray Foam Insulation-I don't know who has been telling people its ok to do 'this or that' but I want to show all the readers the basic principles behind the Actual Building Science behind Spray Foam Insulation and the best practices for using this product.

Many times the shows on TV and supposed building professionals performing similar home improvement services [in some instances these shows are correct;many times they are not.]  So before you start spraying foam insulation on the walls of your building there are a few areas that need to be considered before starting on a project such as this-follow the suggested Building Science Principles for

#sprayfoaminsulation 

  #ClosedCellInsulation 

#MoistureControl  

  #brick 

#BuildingScience

  

#Masonry 

#StoneFoundation

  #RockFoundation  

See, Review and Comment on the Google Cloud Document: Spray Foam Insulation St Louis Brick Buildings

Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Reducing Needs Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog

Tuckpointing Interior- Rehab of 4 Family Part 3

 How we  brought the Old Western - Old South St Louis Architecture- Decor and Feel into a Modern Day Apartment- Benton Gut Rehab

We performed extensive tuck-pointing on the Building for: 

• Aesthetic Purposes -for the Interior-see Soulard* Red Colored Mortar in this picture below ) and 

  Structural Purposes  (see upcoming Green Blog Post) both of which have Energy Saving Benefits!

  

  Soulard Red Decorative Tuck-pointing

  
  

Materials/Tools Used for the Project:

• Type N- Masonry and Tuckpoint Mortar Mix
• Red Coloring (Soulard Red)- Dry Mix
• 4 in Diamond Plated Grinder Wheels
• Various Tuck-pointing tools- Concave Pointers
• Hudson Sprayer
• Step Ladders and Walk Boards
• Safety Glasses / Dust Masks
• Wheel Barrow and Garden Hoe

Before During and After Pictures of this stage of the project

 

  

After we Ground out the Mortar Joints we then Tuck-pointed the Soulard Red Decorative Mortar Mix into the Mortar Joints.  Type N Masonry Mix "Pro Mix"

• Before We Removed the Damaged Exterior Wall.
• We First Tuck-pointed the Brick Walls of the Building.
• We could then Safely Remove the Damaged Lumber and Walls- after shoring up the existing Ceiling Joists (upcoming post in the Series)
•  Rebuild the 2x6 Walls (upcoming post in the Series)

   

  
  

  
  

Building the 2x6 Walls and Door Frame

1. Removed all the old plaster from 2 walls int the Apartment then
2. ground out all the mortar joints to a depth of one-half to three-quarters of an inch
3. We then blew all the loose mortar from the area -To clean out the joints and prepare the Mortar Bed for the New Mix
4. Dampened the area with a Hudson sprayer filled with water- before applying the Masonry Mix -On older buildings this is a critical step as it will help the Masonry Mix adhere to the Bricks while the New Mortar cures.
5. We then filled the cracks with Type N Masonry and Tuckpoint Mix
6. Brush the area for a consistent look
7. Clean Up the area and enjoy the Decorative Look of the new Red Accent Walls

 

   

Scotts Contracting Decorative Interior Accent Wall Tuckpointing with Soulard Red Type N Masonry Mix

 

Scotts Contracting Decorative Interior Accent Wall Tuckpointing with Soulard Red Type N Masonry Mix

 The 'Soulard Red' Decorative Tuck-pointed Accent Walls- when combined with: 

• Modern Drywall that has a 
• Smooth Textured Finish and a 
• 'Refinished Douglas Fir Wood Floor' which Mother Nature has provided a natural reddish tint will give this kitchen and bedroom area the:

Old Western - Old South St Louis Architecture Decor and Feel into a Modern Day Apartment- Benton Gut Rehab

See More of the  

Benton Gut Rehab Green Blog Series

Part 1: History

Part 2: Stone Foundation Repair

Part 3: Tuckpointing the Brick Walls pt 1

Part 4: Tuckpointing the Brick Walls pt 2

Part 5: What were they thinking?

Part 6: Paint Pro Tip #35

Part 7: Repairing Water Damage-Exterior Wall

Part 8: 1st Floor Weatherization

Part 9: See the Difference a Little White Paint Makes

Part 10: Interior Framing-Plumbing-Laundry Room

Part 11: Kitchen Framing Tip #36-Benton Rehab Project

Part 12: Water Main Repair- Benton Rehab

Part 13: Benton Rehab Project Drywall Installation and Tip: Number 1172

Part 14: Custom Flooring Patch Hardwood Floor Repair-Benton Rehab

Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotty for any Home Improvement Projects or Energy Reducing Needs and Scotty, Scotts Contracting will respond ASAP. Company Web Address: http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.com