An Update On the Brick Mold

A quick review – I found the original brick mold in place and mostly in good shape under the aluminum capping around all 4 of my front windows. It has an unusual shape, very narrow when viewed head on, but deep and with an interesting profile. Also, look how badly the first floor windows slant inward.

I took the brick mold down, planning to restore it and reinstall after replacing the windows. (I do not endorse replacing old windows, but mine were replaced with crap.) In the process, I answered a few questions I had. First, the condition of the masonry. I was surprised to see that the face bricks step in to make the trim skinnier, but apparently this was common at the time. And bits of mortar and rubble had worked loose and were resting on the brick mold. I was bracing myself for a problem here… but with everything out, the openings appear to be clean, structurally sound, and big enough for the windows I already ordered! Phew!

Next, I was puzzled by some extra trim added to the tops of the downstairs windows. This was to make up for the slant of the windows frames and cover the gap behind the marble lintels, which are pretty thin. Turns out that they were baseboard cap… and lots of caulk. And the add-ons had the same faux graining as the rest of the trim, so now we know that the faux grained finish was not original. Under it there remains a bit of Pepto-Bismol pink paint. I guess this was the faux grainer’s undercoat because I can’t imagine it’s a period color.

Then onto the most important question. I could see that almost every piece of brick mold had some kind of other damage. There were chunks missing near corners, the outermost edge split off from weathering or having excessive numbers of nails driven into it, some of them were so weathered near the bottom you could see light through them. One had a cable TV hole bored through it, and one of the only pieces in really good condition I tripped over and split in half. I wanted to save all of it but knew that if I need to replace any, I should figure that out before getting matching trim for the doorway.

Remember how the Liquid Wood hardener caused some issues on the cornice? I deci

ded to use it on the brick mold anyway. First on the backs in case it didn’t work well, but also thinned with acetone to make it soak in more. This time it worked great, although it’s taking a while to set up and still has a few tacky spots. I went over some of the most weathered backs and cut ends with the straight stuff, too, to seal them, and there is a bit to sand off the fronts.

Then the next step was the filler, another 2 part epoxy product. I wasn’t sure how well I’d do with chunks that were missing right across the carved details, and this stuff exceeded my expectations. After 2 or 3  hours, it firms up and loses its tackiness but remains soft enough to carve with a utility knife. Now it looks like this!

I will sand it smooth after everything cures fully. There’s no big rush now.