Why this foundation needed a new coat
On most brick homes, a band of concrete shows between the bottom row of brick and the soil. That strip takes rain splash from the eaves, snow piled against the house and frost working into the surface every winter.
Bare or failing concrete in that band starts to flake and look patchy long before there is any structural problem. A parge coat protects the surface and gives the base of the house one clean colour all the way around.
Masking before any mortar
Parging mix stains brick, and it is hard to get out of the texture once it cures. Before any mixing, the crew ran tape along the bottom edge of the brick and hung paper below it, so only the concrete strip stayed exposed.
The tape line sets the top edge of the finished coat. A straight, level line along the brick is what makes parging look like part of the house instead of a patch job.
Around the gas meter, the vents and the other fixtures on the wall, the crew masked each fitting so the coat could go up to it without covering it.
A charcoal coat around the whole base
The coat went on in charcoal grey, working around the house in sections: the porch base at the front, the wall with the gas meter, the wall with the vents, the long side elevation and the corner at the garage.
The crew troweled each section to a consistent finish and kept the top edge tight to the tape. Charcoal sits well under red or brown brick. It reads as a solid base and hides soil splash better than a light grey.
At the corners, the coat wraps around without a seam, so the band looks continuous when you walk around the house.
Keeping new parging in good shape
Parging lasts longest when water drains away from it. Check that downspouts discharge well away from the wall and that the soil and garden beds slope away from the foundation.
Avoid piling snow against the base of the house in winter, and keep mulch a little below the bottom edge of the coat. If a hairline crack shows up after a few freeze-thaw seasons, a small touch-up early keeps water from getting behind it.
