Brick Victorian Home: Styles, Exterior Details and Care

The fastest way to damage a 130-year-old masonry house is to repoint it with modern cement mortar. That one mistake has cracked more antique brick faces than weather ever did. A brick Victorian home was built with soft, handmade or early machine-pressed brick and lime-based mortar, and the two were designed to move, breathe and wear together. Understanding that relationship is the foundation of caring for one.

Brick Victorians appear in nearly every older American city, from Baltimore and Philadelphia row houses to freestanding mansions in St. Louis, Milwaukee and Richmond. They come in several distinct styles, each with its own trim, window patterns and rooflines. Knowing which one you own helps you choose the right repairs, the right colors and the right contractor.

Brick Victorian Home Styles

Three styles dominate the brick Victorian home stock in the United States, with plenty of local blends in between.

Italianate

Popular from the 1850s through the 1880s, Italianate brick houses have low-pitched or flat roofs, deep overhanging eaves supported by paired brackets, and tall, narrow windows with arched or segmental tops. Window hoods in cast iron, stone or pressed metal are a signature. Many row houses in eastern cities use this vocabulary, with a heavy bracketed cornice running across the top of the facade.

Second Empire

Second Empire homes are recognizable by the mansard roof: a steep, nearly vertical lower slope pierced by dormers, often finished in patterned slate. Below that roof, the brick walls carry Italianate-style brackets and window hoods. Towers topped with their own mansard caps appear on grander examples.

Romanesque Revival

Late in the century (roughly 1880 to 1900), Romanesque Revival brought heavier forms: round arches over doors and windows, rough-faced stone trim, deep-set openings and sometimes turrets. Row houses in this style often mix red brick with brownstone or rusticated sandstone at the base and around arches.

Queen Anne houses were also built in brick, especially in the Midwest, with corbelled chimneys, terra-cotta panels and decorative brick patterns that rival any wood gingerbread.

Reading the Brick: Bonds, Colors and Trim

Brick bond is the pattern in which bricks are laid, and it tells you a lot about how the wall was built. Common bond (several rows of long faces, then a row of short “header” ends) was typical for structural walls two or three bricks thick. Flemish bond alternates headers and stretchers in each row and was used on fancier facades. Running bond, all stretchers, often signals a veneer wall or a later addition.

Color ranges from soft salmon to deep red, depending on local clay and firing. Pressed brick on front facades tends to be smoother and more uniform, while side and rear walls used cheaper common brick. Many builders also laid the front facade with very thin “butter joints” of mortar, sometimes tinted to match the brick.

Trim details to protect include:

• Stone or cast window sills and lintels
• Corbelled brick cornices and decorative belt courses
• Terra-cotta panels and ornamental tiles
• Wood or pressed-metal cornices and brackets
• Cast iron window hoods, railings and stoops

Repointing With Lime Mortar

Mortar joints are supposed to be the sacrificial part of a masonry wall. When water enters the wall and freezes, or salts migrate out, the softer mortar should erode before the brick does. Historic lime mortar does exactly that. Modern portland cement mortar is harder and less permeable than antique brick, so stress and moisture get forced into the brick faces, which then spall and crumble.

Signs your brick Victorian home needs repointing: joints recessed more than about a quarter inch, sandy mortar you can scrape out with a key, open gaps, or damp interior plaster behind a wall.

Tools and Materials

• A masonry repointing tool kit: plugging chisel, hand raking tool, slicker or tuckpointing trowels in several widths and a hawk
• Natural hydraulic lime or lime putty mortar matched to the original by a lab or experienced mason
• Sand matched in color and grain size to the existing mortar
• Spray bottle, burlap, stiff natural-bristle brush
• Safety glasses, gloves, and an N95 or P100 respirator

Step-by-Step Overview

1. Analyze the original mortar. Send a sample to a lab or have a preservation mason identify its composition and color.
2. Rake out the joints by hand to a depth of about two to two-and-a-half times the joint width. Avoid angle grinders on soft brick; they nick the edges and widen joints.
3. Clean and dampen. Brush out dust and mist the joint so the dry brick does not pull water out of the fresh mortar.
4. Pack in layers of no more than about 3/8 inch, letting each layer firm up before the next.
5. Tool the final joint to match the original profile once it is thumbprint hard.
6. Cure slowly. Keep the work damp and shaded with burlap for several days. Lime mortar should not be applied below about 40°F or in hot, direct sun.

Raking and grinding mortar releases crystalline silica dust, which causes serious lung disease. Work with water misting when possible, wear a properly fitted N95 or P100 respirator, keep bystanders away, and clean up with a HEPA vacuum rather than sweeping. Professional masons use shrouded tools connected to HEPA dust extractors for exactly this reason.

To Paint or Not to Paint

Few topics divide old-house owners like painting brick. Many Victorian brick facades were originally painted or stained, especially when soft common brick was used, and paint helped shed water. Others were always meant to show natural brick. Before deciding, look for traces of original paint in protected areas such as under cornices.

Arguments against painting: paint can trap moisture, requires repainting every 7 to 10 years, and is almost impossible to reverse cleanly. Arguments for it: it can unify patched or mismatched brick and protect very soft, failing faces. If you do paint, use a breathable mineral silicate or limewash coating rather than an acrylic film.

If you are removing old paint, remember that any coating applied before 1978 may contain lead. Test it first. Never sandblast historic brick; it destroys the hard fired outer skin. Low-pressure chemical strippers applied by an experienced contractor, with lead-safe containment, are the accepted approach. Interior work carries the same caution: older plaster and joint compound can contain asbestos, so test before demolition.

Routine Care and Troubleshooting

• White powdery deposits (efflorescence): salts carried by moisture. Find the water source, such as a leaking gutter, then dry-brush the salts off.
• Spalling brick faces: often from hard cement repointing or freeze-thaw cycles. Replace badly damaged bricks with salvaged matches.
• Green staining: constant dampness from shade or splashback. Improve drainage and gutter flow.
• Bowing walls or stair-step cracks: possible foundation or structural movement. Call a structural engineer.
• Rotting wood cornice: repair or replace in kind, prime all sides and keep flashing intact above it.

Clean brick gently with water and a soft brush. Pressure washers above a few hundred PSI can erode mortar and brick faces. Keep gutters and downspouts clear, slope soil away from foundations, and check flashing around chimneys every spring.

General Cost Ranges

Repointing with lime mortar is labor-intensive and typically priced by the square foot of wall. Expect it to cost noticeably more than standard cement repointing because of hand raking and slower curing. A full row-house facade can run into the low five figures, while small spot repairs may cost a few hundred dollars. Paint removal with containment, slate mansard repair and cornice restoration are each significant line items. Get at least three bids from masons who can show completed historic work.

When to Call a Licensed Professional

Hire a qualified preservation mason for large repointing jobs, chimney rebuilds and any work above a single story, since ladder and scaffold work on tall masonry walls is dangerous. Structural cracks, bulging walls and sagging lintels need an engineer. Lead paint removal should be done by a certified lead-safe firm. If your house is in a historic district, check with the local commission; many require approval for repointing, painting and window changes.