About BrickPorch
A reference on the preservation and maintenance of historic brick structures in Canada.
Last updated: May 2026
What This Site Covers
BrickPorch provides written reference material on topics relevant to owners and maintainers of historic brick homes, primarily in Canada. The content focuses on three areas where older brick structures commonly require attention: mortar joint repair, surface cleaning, and moisture management.
Canadian brick homes built before the 1950s often used softer handmade brick and lime-based mortars that behave differently from modern materials. Maintenance decisions that ignore these differences can cause long-term damage — harder cement mortars, aggressive chemical cleaners, and improper waterproofing sealers are among the most common sources of harm to historic masonry.
Scope and Approach
The articles on this site are written for property owners who want to understand the scope of a repair before hiring a contractor, and for anyone doing preliminary research on historic masonry maintenance. The content is informational — it describes methods, materials, and general principles without replacing site-specific professional assessment.
All external references are to publicly available sources: Parks Canada guidelines, provincial heritage office publications, and established conservation literature. No statistics are cited without a verifiable source.
Heritage Context in Canada
Canada has a significant stock of brick residential architecture, particularly in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime provinces. Cities like Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, and Montreal contain large intact neighbourhoods of late-19th and early-20th century brick construction. Many of these properties are subject to municipal heritage designation or sit in heritage conservation districts where material changes require approval.
The Parks Canada Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada establishes the general framework for conservation work in this country. Provincial and municipal heritage frameworks add additional requirements depending on location.
Contact
Questions about the content on this site can be submitted using the contact form on the homepage. Responses are not guaranteed but substantive questions may inform future content updates.