“When I was 21 it was a very good year.” It was a very good year for this small town mason with his lime mortar mixes and lime paints so bright.
Many opportunities turned out so right. When it was all said and done it came together when I was 21.

The 21st year in business for deGruchy Masonry Restoration has passed. Looking back it was a very good year.

I think 21 really must have some special meaning. I was twenty one when I graduated from Williamson Trade School. I remember when I was that age I was ready to take on the world. If I only knew then what I know now! Good for me or I wouldn't have tried.

Here are 21 highlights completing our 21st year in business and going on to our 22nd:

1. St. John the Divine, NYC applying some St. Astier Stone repair material called Lithomex and St. Astier Lime paint to a column.
   For more information, click here.
   
   
   
2. I did some lectures on the use of St. Astier Natural Hydraulic Lime at Grey Towers in Milford, PA. It is a National Historic Site and the home of the founder of The National Forest Service.
   For more information, click here.
   
   
   
3. My kids and I fixed some steps at Daniel Boone’s homestead for the state of PA.
   
   
   
4. The Stephen Girard estate, Founder of Girard College in Philadelphia, had an internal downspout in a corner or the 1800’s brick building which caused the ornate corner to collapse and we contracted with them to do the repair.
   
   
   
5. The Bradford County Courthouse of Towanda, PA needed tesserae marble tiles replaced. They were set in a Greek fret pattern on the portico floor. We had to locate and cut five colors of imported marble to do the repair and set the tiles in St. Astier Natural Hydraulic Lime mortar.
   
   
   
6. I am very proud of this repair for a home owner in New Jersey since it was very difficult even though it looks effortless in the end. It was not a full repoint but just repairing what is broken or missing and making a patch not look like a patch as the goal.
   
   
   
7. No one wanted to get near this ornate center city Philadelphia chimney that was very high and leaning toward the slate roof. We had to set up elaborate scaffold, number and dismantle the terra cotta chimney and re-lay it up plumb after correcting the problem. The problem was that the original flues where used as part of the structural element to hold the chimney up. The disintegration of the terra cotta flue from 100 years of creosote was eating away at the inner tiles which made the chimney start to tip.
   
   
   
8. The owners of a modern office building in Valley Forge, PA wanted careful repair and hired us to restore the failing brickwork rather than hiring a caulk and waterproofing company. We mostly used a swing stage scaffold hung from the roof to do all the cleaning, brick replacement and patch pointing work.
   
   
   
9. We performed some interior plaster repairs for the PA State Hope Lodge which is a museum that once housed the Hope Diamond.
   
   
   
10. We did restoration for a church in Perkasie, PA which saved them $50K over other bids. We are glad for them since they can spend the balance on the work of their ministry in the community.
    
    
    
11. We helped save an old 1800’s tower in Quakertown, PA from being torn down by putting together a proposal and carrying out the work. It originally housed the counterweights that made the turntable for trolleys turn around on the tracks.
    
    
    
12. We performed a very difficult job removing multiple layers of paint and fulling cleaning and repointing with DGM 100 St. Astier Natural Hydraulic Lime mortar this 1800’s home in Bath, PA.
    
    
    
13. We now represent St. Astier Natural Hydraulic Lime from Maine to Florida, Louisiana to Iowa.
    Distributor map
    
    
14. The Fox Theater in Atlanta used DGM 50 St. Astier Natural Hydraulic Lime for repointing.
    
    
    
15. Our DGM 50 Mortar, which is a prepared light buff colored natural hydraulic lime and sand mortar was used by another contractor to fully repoint the Eldridge Synagogue in Manhattan.
    
    
    
16. The Owners of this New Castle Delaware Home on “The Strand” won the best of preservation with our front facade masonry restoration.
    
    
    
17. I received the Service to Mankind award by the Upper Bucks Sertoma club for adopting local historic structures and repairing them over the years.
    
    
    
18. St. Astier NHL 5 was used to apply a pebble dash "Harling" to the entire exterior of a new home in Bar Harbor, ME. Since the NHL does not react with salt off the ocean and we used plastic diamond lath and stainless screws, the job is now ready to deliver the anticipated "100 year" service life typical with historic masonry structures. The house was modeled after the famous Voysey architecture from the Lake District, U.K.
    
    
    
19. Moving forward into our 22 year we have the upcoming two day event in New Castle, Delaware with the International Preservation Training Workshop.
    
    
20. We are leading an all volunteer conservation workshop for an old stone bridge in Bucks County PA in September 2006.
    For more information,  click here
    
    
21. We are leading a Green Building seminar on plastering strawbale with NHL in Ontario at the International Straw Bale Convention.
    For more information,  click here