Historical Restoration in Ann Arbor, MI

Keep the Story in the Wall While You Save It

Hard portland-heavy mortar is less permeable than the old brick around it, so moisture and salt leave through the brick face instead of the joint, and the surrounding masonry fails faster than it would have untouched. Danaher Family Masonry and Restoration takes on historical restoration in Ann Arbor, MI: repointing with soft lime-based mortar, replacing spalled and broken units, rebuilding porches and chimneys, and copying original joint profiles on houses and storefronts built between 1860 and 1914.


Respect for original material drives every step of the sequence. A mix gets proven on a 3 foot by 3 foot test panel, joints are cut back 2 to 2.5 times the joint width, and washing stays between 200 and 600 psi. Locally owned and 40 years into this work, we document the mortar mix, tooling and materials used, so you have something to hand a review board. Ask for a consultation on our contact page whenever you are ready.

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Historical Restoration Services We Provide

  • Historic Repointing and Mortar Matching

    Old joints get cut back 2 to 2.5 times the joint width, roughly 0.5 to 1 inch, then refilled with mortar as soft and permeable as what came out. Traditional mixes run 1 part lime putty to 3 parts sand by volume.

  • Historic Brick Repair and Replacement

    Spalled and delaminated units come out one at a time, so sound brick nearby stays undisturbed. Replacements are selected for size, color, texture and hardness close to the original, and salvage stock often beats new brick because the fired surface already matches.

  • Historic Facade Restoration

    Whole elevations rarely need identical treatment top to bottom. We map which areas are sound, which want selective repointing, and which need unit replacement, then work section by section, keeping wall temperatures between 40 and 95 degrees while new mortar cures.

  • Historic Chimney Restoration

    Chimney brick takes more freeze-thaw punishment than any masonry on a house, and older stacks show it first at the crown and top courses. We rebuild from sound masonry upward and form a crown 2 inches thick with a 2.5 inch overhang.

  • Historic Porch and Step Rebuilding

    Original porches settle unevenly, leaving risers that vary far past the 3/8 inch tolerance current code allows across a flight. We dismantle carefully, set aside usable brick and stone, rebuild on footings reaching 42 inches, and reset treads at consistent heights.

  • Matching Materials and Joint Profiles

    Profile matters as much as color. Concave and V tooled joints shed water off the joint face, and a flush or weathered joint reads completely differently from across a street, so we copy the original tooling rather than defaulting to a modern finish.

Why Choose Us for Historical Restoration

Soft Mortar for Soft Brick

Replacement mortar softer and more permeable than your brick lets the joint sacrifice itself instead of the masonry. A sacrificial joint can be cut out and refilled decades from now for a fraction of what replacing hundreds of damaged face brick would cost.

Nothing Abrasive Touches the Face

Sandblasting strips the hard fired outer surface off brick and exposes the softer core, and that damage is permanent. You get gentle washing between 200 and 600 psi instead, which cleans without trading a century of weather resistance for one tidy afternoon.

Joint Profiles Copied, Not Approximated

Nobody notices correct tooling; everybody notices wrong tooling. Matching the original profile, joint width and finish stops repaired areas from announcing every intervention in raking afternoon light, which is exactly what a review board and a passing neighbor both end up looking at.

Original Material Kept Wherever Possible

Every original brick saved is fabric that stays in your building. We pull only units genuinely beyond repair, reuse sound salvage from concealed areas for visible patches, and treat wholesale replacement as a last option rather than the quickest route to a finish.

Documentation for Your Review Process

Exterior work inside a local historic district usually needs a Certificate of Appropriateness first. You receive written descriptions of the mortar mix, joint profile, brick source and cleaning method, in plain language, ready to attach to whatever application you choose to submit yourself.

Work That Reads as Original

Success here is invisible. A finished wall where nobody can point at the repair protects both the character of a building and its standing against the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, which is the yardstick preservation review actually uses.

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Preservation That Respects What Came Before

Ann Arbor has 14 local historic districts, and the original brick inside a protected building cannot be replaced once it is gone. Danaher Family Masonry and Restoration works on those buildings across Ann Arbor, MI with soft lime-based mortar, hand tools where a machine would be faster, and washing pressures that leave the fired surface intact. We are a small locally owned family shop, we buy sand, lime and salvage brick nearby, and we will say plainly when a wall needs less work than you feared. If you own something worth keeping, send photographs and a description through our contact page and we will start by looking.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Why do older brick buildings require a special approach?

    Older brick is softer and more porous than modern units, and it was built with lime mortar meant to flex and breathe. Rigid portland-heavy repairs trap moisture, push damage into the brick face, and make the surrounding masonry deteriorate faster.

  • How do you match mortar color and texture?

    Color comes mostly from the sand, so matching starts by sourcing sand close to the original rather than reaching for pigment. Pigment stays under 10% of the portland cement by weight, and carbon black is capped at 2%.

  • Is N type mortar a good substitute for lime based mortar?

    Rarely, on genuinely soft historic brick. Type N runs about 750 psi, which is often harder than the surrounding units, so Type O at roughly 350 psi or a lime putty and sand mix is usually the safer match.

  • Is sandblasting bad for brick?

    Yes, and permanently. Blasting removes the hard fired outer skin and exposes the soft absorbent core underneath, which then takes on water and spalls through every winter. No coating or sealer restores what an abrasive has already taken off.

  • What pressure is safe for cleaning historic brick?

    Between 200 and 600 psi, using the widest fan tip that does the job. Danaher Family Masonry and Restoration cleans historic masonry across Ann Arbor, MI within that range, because industrial washing at 5,000 to 15,000 psi destroys original material outright.

  • What is a Certificate of Appropriateness?

    It is written approval from a local Historic District Commission for exterior work, judged against the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. Danaher Family Masonry and Restoration supplies material and method documentation for owners in Ann Arbor, MI to submit.

  • Does ordinary maintenance require historic district approval?

    Ordinary maintenance is exempt, covering work that keeps existing material in the condition already present. Repointing with a different mortar, swapping brick or changing a joint profile goes past maintenance, and Michigan's Local Historic District Act allows fines up to $5,000.

  • Is it ever okay to paint brick?

    Painting historic brick is usually a mistake, because film-forming coatings block the vapor movement soft brick depends on, trapping moisture until the face spalls. Walls painted long ago are a separate conversation, since stripping can cause more harm.