Tuckpointed limestone with red tuck

Here we have the old heirtage Army base of Fremantle utilising a red tuckpoint,

This has been repointed since its original build being highly exposed to weather.

Early Fremantle limestone house tuckpointed

At first I thought this was the poor mans tuckpoint. A created recess then pointed with paint which was the case without having to place the tuck.  It was quite hard to tell without jumping the fence.
The tuck appeared almost flush with the point which would make it hard to use a frenchman.

The stone is probably from the nearby having the soil colours of a less consistent floor of stone. They were more than likely lose stones buried in a field rather than from a floor.

I love the colours, the flaws and the  inconsistencies.

Note the mortar colour which appears very much original it may be unslaked burnt lime sand.

I love  stone, collected stone, hand built, like art no machines. 

I want to time travel back for a week in this Australian history; immerse myself in the time.

Fremantle limestone and tuckpoint

Pinjar biscuit Fremantle past - Stone mortar pointing

And here we have one of Fremantle's formal early pieces with its non-hydaulic pieces uncovered to show what I discussed earlier where darker stone is revealed and possibly the evidence for darker lime washes we saw in the vernacular of Fremantle.

Here we see two colours. Both construction mortar and a lighter facing mortar. First stone buildings may also have had conch lime in the facing mix to increase strength.

While we now have penetrating sealers which harden stone exterior and prevent stone losing its colour to mold, evidence is present of a hydraulic Portland bag over the top.

This stone would have been chosen darker, slightly softer for facing.

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Tuckpointing, a section view of tuckpointing

Here I found today a great section view of tuckpointing. Here it shows the stopping laid over the joint, the tuck or whiting that is laid over the top.

Some of the whiting may be set wide of the real mortar joint to keep the joints aligned called a blind joint.  Bricks, even modern vary at least 2mm unless they are refractory.

Fremantle mortar limestone pointing peach in colour

Today I visited Fremantle again to see further proof of the old mortar almost a peach in colour or of terracotta to tan in colour.  In dealing with different limestone over the years it varies in colour tremendously.  Moore river stone is very biscuit in colour. 

Even a photo Ill publish later shows one of the early historic buildings with the layers of paint pretending to be white wash removed.

It clearly shows the stone to be quite tan in nature and the pointing to of two distinct colours. The construction mortar is quite dark, The facing mortar is a lighter tan almost a peach colour as discussed before.

I would say this stone for its softer attributes which allow for the pillow face finish it was given.  Many of the deliveries we receive from some quarries these days is extremely hard.  The axe bounces of much of this especially when there is a high content of cap rock.

The scrap of this stone would have been slaked on site along with the soil colour made up the larger mortar component attributes in both cases. Unslaked burnt fines of the stone would forming sand would make part of the mortar giving it the colour.

I dare say some of the old washes would have been given this light brown colour from the darker stone colour, less calcified no doubt an higher in silica I believe.

Here is an old Fremantle stone wall I found that is of what I believe an original point protected by an outhouse for years  under the cover of tin in a row of terraces. 

The image of the luxury building will show darker mortar samples again right on the harbour of Fremantle.

Whitewash for lighthouses

A formula used by the U.S. Government in making whitewash for lighthouses and other public buildings.

Unslaked lime.........2 pecks
common salt...........1peck
rice flour............3pounds
spanish whiting.......half pound
Glue..................1 pound
water.................a sufficient quantity

Please not that this style of wash will not breath like a standard lime wash.   Any wash that may have moisture drawn in from behind through capillary action etc may cause a water resistant product to bubble. Glue being one of the main reasons for the water resistance which also breaks down with constant moisture exposure. 

Breathable washes allow moisture to evaporate away preventing bubbling.  I have made renders with water resistant products in them.  Even though these mixes are resistant not waterproof to moisture they prevent water ingress but breath enough to allow any retained moisture to evaporate.

Lime wash strength is its ability to shed water, ongoing coats required to some degree but in a situation where a wall may stay wet, less maintenance than standard paints.

Lime washes also can give natural flat look that in some architecture looks fantastic.  I love a natural flat look.