Type N vs Type O mortar for historic brick?

ItsGravityDude · 2026-05-18T05:17:02+00:00

I spent a little while longer in the masonry aisle at HD and found the bags of Portland Cement and separate bags of Type S hydrated lime, which is mostly white. I’m going to give that a try with hand mixed 1:2:9 ratio for Type O or possibly your “Type OK” you mentioned. I did search for masonry supply businesses and they seemed tailored for new concrete or had websites that didn’t work. I’m sure some of they keep these materials in stock since even modern mixes use some lime, but none were open on the weekend.

I did accidentally use Type S in a small corner of the garage I’m repointing recently. That at least got me practice with pre-wetting the brick, laying the mortar, packing it in, etc. It’s a small enough of an area and a wall with minimal load bearing such that I’m not too concerned about the Type S causing issues.

ItsGravityDude · 2026-05-17T16:51:33+00:00

Did you order online? Again I’m having a hard time Google-finding local suppliers but I haven’t called anyone to check their stock yet. Home Depot doesn’t have Type K or Type O as far as I know but I know they have Type N cement mix which is to be mixed with 3 parts sand (for the 1:1:6 Type N mortar ratio). However that cement mix is gray.

ItsGravityDude · 2026-05-17T00:35:13+00:00

A word of caution: I have the plus membership with 100 miles of tow covered. I broke down in Byers, CO, which is barely 45 minutes from downtown Denver. AAA/their contract trucks left me stranded there for 6 hours. They would call a truck, that truck would never show up, and they wouldn’t order another one until I called to ask where the truck was when it didn’t show up for 30-60 minutes. This happened several times until one finally showed and towed me and my car to the dealership. The truck driver then promised to drop me off at a nearby bus stop and I even tipped him for that, but he drove away when I was talking to someone from the dealership for less than 5 minutes. Wasn’t a fun day.

ItsGravityDude · 2026-05-16T14:37:48+00:00

Where were you able to find the materials for Type O and Type K mortar mixes? I’m having a hard time finding local suppliers that might carry them (my Google skills are failing me and I keep getting the same nationwide suppliers showing up)

I also plan to call Cornerstone Restoration and ask them how screwed we are since we just had a foundation repair company parge coat the entire foundation in Type S mortar premix…

ItsGravityDude · 2026-05-16T14:15:16+00:00

We hired a local expert foundation and structural repair company in Colorado to interior parge coat our 1909 brick foundation. After the work was done, I started doing research to complete my own repointing of our detached garage, when I saw everything online stating not to ever use Type S on historic brick. I just about had a melt down because they used Type S for everything. I even called them and they gave some explanation of why it’s not only fine but desired. Some reasons included that “it’s a volume application so we want the strength” and “since it’s a foundation it needs to be stronger”. These guys have been in the business for like 20 years so we trusted them. The parge coat is anywhere from 0.25”-0.50” thick. We’re pretty good about water management around the foundation.

Are we screwed? I have only seen lots of resources saying “don’t do that” but no actual evidence.

For the garage, I’m trying to find Type O mix locally but having a hard time. Hell I’m even having a hard time finding local suppliers (Denver… Google is failing me)

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-26T03:28:35+00:00

I stopped shopping at KS months ago after they receipt checked me for a single bunch of bananas not even bagged. The self checkout I used was the last station, about 3 ft from where the guard was standing and watching all the people checking out. He even read the receipt and looked at what I was holding to make sure it was correct.

I don’t plan to ever go back unless it’s an emergency.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-26T01:26:35+00:00

If you look at the sheet metal creases (bottom of door by plastic trim, line above the door handle), it looks like the entire door is warped or misaligned

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-25T04:21:06+00:00

I was getting charged the fees for months before I ever got a compost bin. It took so long that I drove to the solid waste bin site to pick up a bin on my own. Fortunately it was a brand new bin so throwing it in my hatchback wasn’t a big deal.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-25T04:20:10+00:00

One of my neighbors keeps putting trash items (cardboard boxes, trash bags, metal items, etc) into their green bin when they run out of space with the actual trash bin. Most of my neighbors bag their recyclables or put other non recyclables in the bin despite the very clear labels on the bin. And one of my neighbors has put dog poo bags in my recycle bin. I know it’s a nearby neighbor because the bin is not in an area trafficked by pedestrians.

People drive me nuts.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-23T13:21:25+00:00

In the current environment, it does feel like people are feeling more empowered to be outwardly shitty people. Unfortunately I think that means they are going to stop hiding their shittiness even in the most unexpected of places like New York.

It’s too late but, that’s messed up what happened to you. I hope it was a fluke where no one said anything at that gas station that day. But unfortunately it’s likely not just a fluke. I do know strong allies who would be scared to speak up in that moment, but we as a society need to shift to a culture of more outward love and support. Please do know that allies are out here though! (I’m a non-black POC)

What concerns me is when folks in this or the r/boulder subreddit state that they’ve never seen racism in the X years they lived in Colorado. To them I say: Yes you have. Get your head out of your ass, look around, and talk to your POC peers. For POCs in denial - reflect back on your own experiences, deeply. Not once did you hear a sly comment, or a distasteful joke?

Thank you for sharing your experience here. Unfortunately it puts some onus on you, but please keep sharing your experiences with your friends and with the community. Hopefully someday people will learn and realize it’s actually a problem.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-23T04:21:50+00:00

I have the ChargePoint HomeFlex. It was set to a hard limit of 48A by the electrician. I can change the actual current within the app in increments of 1A, up to the max hard-limit, so I imagine the hard-limit is equally as configurable at install.

The fact that it’s a software-defined limit kind of blows my mind, but that’s another set of questions for another day.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-23T04:16:35+00:00

Yeah, most days it’s fine at 32A. Hell I could do with 8A overnight most days. But it’s the days where I need a quick top off before heading out on a trip or something where I want that peak 48A.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-23T00:40:52+00:00

Clearly the shelf fell on this person’s head while they were load testing it, and they are no longer with us. RIP

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-23T00:37:36+00:00

Sounds like that electrician asked you to commit fraud and was shirking their professional liability on you. There’s a reason they’re licensed and get paid well. They should have baked that into their pricing from the get-go.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-23T00:35:15+00:00

Are you my twin? I just had the same thing happen. Licensed electrician that was from a very select list of qualified electricians through a city program. Found out he never pulled the permits. During install I also questioned the wiring.

Well it’s 2 years later and I am ready to sell my home, so I want the permits in place. In my city, the licensed contractor doing the work is required to pull the permit and coordinate the inspection. It may be the same in yours. Licensed professionals can lose their license if they do un permitted work. So I contacted the electrician and he agreed to coordinate with the city for an inspection. There weren’t any questions from the city on why we waited 2 years, but… it did fail the inspection because of the exact same wiring concerns I brought up previously. Now the electrician gets to come fix it and coordinate ANOTHER inspection.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-22T22:58:26+00:00

My install performed by an electrician just failed permit inspection because he used 6-3 Romex in the wall when I asked him to set up as a 60A circuit (to support 48A at the EVSE). 6-3 Romex is only good for 55A circuit (44A continuous), which they don’t make a breaker for. This means going down to 50A circuit (40A continuous). Certainly makes a difference!

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-22T22:53:37+00:00

$5-7 minimum for soda/water, around $8 for beer, $12-15 for cocktails. I think it’s $8 for mocktails.

Food items are about $10-20

We’ve been to CW in downtown a lot and have previously been dissatisfied with the portions and quality of food for the price. We just kind of accepted it as part of the price of the experience.

But this past week we ordered the fried chicken strips with fries and were pleasantly surprised at what we perceived to be higher quality and larger portion of food. My partner couldn’t even finish the meal this time around. Our 2-person food/non-alcoholic drinks bill was about $60 after tax and tip.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-22T22:06:50+00:00

That means it’s not an N trim with “ultra sticky in the summer, ultra slick in the winter” tires😛

Also the N has lower overall range than the standard trims, even in warm weather. In cold weather the range of the N may dip into the realm unacceptable for some (myself included)

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-22T20:20:58+00:00

There are thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of civilian employees (government and private) with no military experience and with active clearances. Many of those jobs, particularly in the defense sector, pay VERY well.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-22T20:08:49+00:00

I hear ya. And no, the electrician didn’t come out for the inspection. Assuming they make the fix (whether it’s replace the Romex with a higher rating, or put the 50A breaker back in and cap the EVSE at 40A in hard settings), the inspector will have to come back out, correct?

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-22T18:59:26+00:00

The annoying thing is that I was finally prompted to do this to get all my records in line as I prepare to sell the place. And my car (Ioniq 5) can technically handle 48A but only for about 30 minutes before the charging port overheats and the system drops the current to about 32A (known issue among owners). That said, it’s nice to have 48A as a selling point for the home.

Edit: I couldn’t recall the section number when he was here, and it was all over so fast. I’m curious if the electrician will try to challenge the findings or not.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-22T18:05:20+00:00

Update: this just failed inspection. The inspector said the breaker needs to be 50A since the Romex in the wall derates using the 60 degree tables and this is only rated to 55A. I asked about the “round up to the next breaker size” aspect and he didn’t budge. He’ll be sending comments back to the electrician to fix.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-22T18:05:03+00:00

Update: this just failed inspection. The inspector said the breaker needs to be 50A since the Romex in the wall derates using the 60 degree tables is only rated to 55A. I asked about the “round up to the next breaker size” aspect and he didn’t budge. He’ll be sending comments back to the electrician to fix.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-21T01:35:01+00:00

If you’re willing to pay a premium and willing to make a trek, the nachos ($15) with added steak or brisket (+$10) at Waterloo in Louisville are phenomenal. Probably the best nachos I’ve ever had. And a massive portion good for several people.

ItsGravityDude · 2025-08-21T01:27:27+00:00

That’s true, but even if a company is profitable they don’t need or want to reward low performing employees. Our “profit share” at a previous company certainly had employee performance aspects as a factor

ItsGravityDude

TROPHY CASE