When a Marcellus Wall Starts Failing in the Brick
Mortar can be raked out and replaced as often as a wall needs. Brick cannot, and this page exists because somebody forgot that.
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What the federal photograph of this failure says
Preservation Brief 2 publishes a National Park Service photograph of the failure with this caption: the use of hard portland cement mortar that is less permeable than the soft bricks has resulted in severe damage to this brick wall, moisture trapped in the wall was unable to evaporate through the mortar which is intended to be sacrificial and thus protect the bricks, and as a result the moisture remained in the walls until water pressure eventually popped the surface off the bricks.
Source: National Park Service, Technical Preservation Services, Preservation Brief 2: Repointing Mortar Joints in Historic Masonry Buildings, by Robert C. Mack, FAIA, and John P. Speweik, 1998, accessed 2026-09-10
Baldwinsville village has 3,784 housing units with a median year of construction of 1975, a pre-1940 share of 20.6 percent and 17.3 percent built between 1940 and 1959, so 56.7 percent of the village predates 1980. Marcellus village has 1,031 units, a median of 1952, a pre-1940 share of 38.4 percent and 81.5 percent built before 1980, and the Town of Marcellus around it has 2,789 units, a median of 1963 and a pre-1940 share of 31.8 percent.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B25034 Year Structure Built and table B25035 Median Year Structure Built, accessed 2026-09-10
The same National Park Service records list village historic districts across the metro: the Skaneateles Historic District with 59 contributing buildings, the Manlius Village Historic District with 50, the Genesee Street Hill and Limestone Plaza Historic District in Fayetteville with 40, and the Oswego-Oneida Streets Historic District in Baldwinsville with 32. Individual listings outside districts include the Lucius Gleason House in Liverpool, the Solvay Public Library, the Dan Bradley House and the Tefft-Steadman House in Marcellus, five listings at Camillus including the Wilcox Octagon House and the Camillus Union Free School, and the Stone Arabia School in Cicero.
Source: National Park Service, Cultural Resources geospatial data, National Register of Historic Places points and polygons map service, queried for Onondaga County, New York, accessed 2026-09-10
What a failed Marcellus elevation is telling you
Brick replacement is the bill that arrives once the joint stopped being the weak part. The federal photograph of this failure carries a caption worth reading twice: hard portland cement mortar less permeable than the soft bricks caused severe damage to the wall, moisture trapped inside could not evaporate through the mortar, which is intended to be sacrificial and thus protect the bricks, and the pressure eventually popped the surface off them. In a village that is 38.4 percent pre-1940 with 81.5 percent built before 1980, that is a live risk rather than a historical one.
Which units are gone, and what changes with them
Sort the wall before you price it. Units that have lost their face but kept their depth can often stay another decade on a sheltered elevation. Units spalled through, cracked or loose come out. And whatever the count, the bedding and the pointing specification change at the same time, because putting new brick into the mortar that killed the last lot is a repair with a countdown on it. Marcellus has individual National Register listings rather than a district, so no boundary is going to make that decision for you. It should be written down instead.
The caption on the federal photograph
The published caption reads that hard portland cement mortar less permeable than the soft bricks resulted in severe damage to the wall, that moisture trapped in the wall was unable to evaporate through the mortar which is intended to be sacrificial and thus protect the bricks, and that water pressure eventually popped the surface off the bricks.
81.5 percent of the village predates 1980
Marcellus village has 1,031 units with a median build year of 1952, a 38.4 percent prewar share and 81.5 percent built before 1980, with the town around it at 31.8 percent prewar. That is a large stock of soft old brick for a hard mortar to damage, which is why the specification matters here.
Individual listings, and no district
The National Register records the Dan Bradley House and the Tefft-Steadman House at Marcellus as individual listings rather than a district. So no district wide standard applies to an ordinary house, nobody will tell you what brick to use, and the specification you agree is the only control there is.
Is there newer pointing beside the failed brick?
Look, then send the Marcellus address with what you see. That answer usually names the cause on its own.
Other Marcellus work on the same elevation
Failed brick: what Marcellus owners ask
The faces have popped off a dozen bricks on our south wall. Is that frost?
Frost is usually the trigger and rarely the cause. The federal account of this failure is moisture trapped in the wall because the mortar was harder and less permeable than the brick, so water could not leave through the joint and left through the face instead, until the pressure popped the surface off. Frost then finishes what the mortar started. Look for crisp modern pointing beside the failed faces, because that is the pattern that confirms it.
Is our house covered by any historic rules in Marcellus?
Probably not. The National Register records individual listings at Marcellus, the Dan Bradley House and the Tefft-Steadman House among them, rather than a district, so an ordinary house here has no district wide standard to meet and no contributing building route into the state credit. That means nobody is going to tell you what brick or what mortar to use, which cuts both ways. It is worth specifying it properly yourself.
Get Marcellus units counted and the mix changed
Popped faces, units cracked through, brick loose beside hard pointing: describe it with the address, no obligation.