As the weather warms up and brings us into Spring, assessing winter damage on your historic brick home’s walkways, patios, driveways, retaining walls and urban gardens should be a priority. Keeping this hardscaping safe not only protects you from injury but also adds to your home’s curb appeal and increases the longevity of your outdoor features. Fixing any damage early in the season will allow you to enjoy your D.C. property without worry through the entire summer.
Identifying Winter Damage to Patios, Walkways and Other Hardscaping
D.C. winters can be hard on historic brick homes and their outdoor features. Tiny cracks you may have missed back in the autumn will have been subject to winter’s freeze-thaw cycle. During the cold weather, the temperatures may warm up enough to melt some of the snow, allowing water to trickle into cracks and other imperfections. When the temperature plummets again, the water freezes. The freezing causes expansion, and the resulting ice will widen the crack. The next time there’s a slight thaw, the cycle repeats, and the cracks worsen. With this type of water damage, you’ll want to keep an eye out for missing mortar, cracked and crumbling and loose bricks, unlevel surfaces, tripping hazards and white staining on surfaces (efflorescence).
Ice salts can also cause brick erosion, so you should always try to use sand instead. In cases where salt is essential for safety, you should choose the mildest options available to prevent wear and tear on your old brick walkways, steps, and patios. Check your outdoor hardscaping for uneven wear patterns, pitting, mottled surfaces and bricks that look like they’re “worn down.”
Common Winter Damage to Urban Gardens
Urban gardens can also suffer from unexpected winter damage. Winter storms can break branches and cause partial die-off from freezing - sometimes you’ll lose a tree or plant completely. It’s important to have damaged trees and shrubs pruned carefully to avoid further injury, which could lead to problems with insects, fungus and stunted growth. If plants need to be removed, it is crucial to ensure the ground is properly filled in and regraded to ensure water flows away from your foundation to protect your brick. Regrading is important even if you’re replacing the plantings.
Cleaning Up Damage to Your Property in the Springtime
Repairing the outdoor landscape features of historic brick homes isn’t always easy. Sourcing materials to match your home can be a challenge; resetting bricks requires time and patience, and if an entire section of patio, retaining wall, or walkway needs to be replaced, it can seem overwhelming. If tuckpointing is required, you’ll want to hire a team who are experts in the traditional methods and materials.
Consulting a historic brick home expert takes the stress out of keeping your home safe and looking its best. They can use their experience to identify the root cause of problems, ensuring a long-lasting fix and saving you money in the long run.
Reliable experts fill their calendars quickly once the spring renovation rush begins. The longer you wait to book their specialty services, the further out your repairs will be scheduled. Contact Renaissance Development for a free consultation. Remember that booking early helps ensure your historic brick home will be visitor-ready for safe, enjoyable entertaining this summer.
