PSA: That weird bulge in a wall in Charlotte took me two full days to figure out

Was repointing a 1920s chimney and the mortar line kept bulging out after I fixed it. Turned out the original builders shoved a piece of scrap lead flashing behind the brick as a shim. Had to pull 15 bricks to get it out. Anyone ever find something that weird hidden in a wall?

3 comments

3 Comments

campbell.logan2mo ago

What did they use for shims back then, anything they had on hand? I used to think old houses were built perfectly but stuff like this shows they cut corners too. Finding a random piece of lead would have driven me crazy! Makes you wonder what else is hidden in plain sight.

ivan822mo ago

Lead shims are actually a legit old-school trick, believe it or not.

juliaa251mo ago

Hey @campbell.logan, you got me thinking about that. My buddy actually found some weird shims in his old house too. He was tearing out a wall and found a stack of flattened tin cans stuffed in there to level a window frame. I guess people back then just grabbed whatever was lying around to make things work, real low budget fixes you know? It's funny cause that house was built in the 20s and still stands solid today. Makes you wonder what other creative stuff is hiding behind those walls doesn't it?