What are these Star's on brick buildings throughout New York?
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Can you see the stars I underlined?
Here at Amicus Properties in Troy Ny, I have noticed this strange pattern of Star’s pressed into a lot of brick buildings throughout the buildings we manage as well as other brick buildings throughout Troy and the surrounding areas. I initially thought maybe it was because Troy is patriotic and it is the home of Uncle Sam. It seems I was wrong because one of the sources I found is from a Home Inspector in Philadelphia. One of our Maintenance technicians also told me they are widely spread throughout Vermont as well.
These stars that you see on brick buildings are known as Star Bolts. They help reinforce exterior walls that are bulging out and can repair 3 inch gaps down to less than an inch. I would attempt to explain it but this website does a great job!
“Rowhomes are built by connecting wooden joists between the side walls (also known as party walls). The front and back of a rowhome are only connected at the edges of these side walls, not directly to the strong wooden joists. Over time, this connection can weaken, and the exterior walls gradually separate from the house, resulting in exterior walls which bulge outward. This can happen due to foundation problems, as well as problems with the bricks themselves. “ Source: https://www.solorealty.com/secret-life-buildings-star-bolts/
Here is one of our buildings at 919 Jacob St with the Star Bolts underlined.
It seems that when they reinforce the building with these star bolts, they take out the lime mortar if the building predates 1920 since they now use Portland cement instead when Mason’s repoint the brick. Lime mortar eventually succumbs to weathering and dissolves.
Star Bolts have been a great help to homeowners who want to maintain their older buildings because the cost of replacing a damaged wall can exceed $8000 versus $1000 per star bolt. Source: https://activerain.com/blogsview/2126096/star-bolts---they-aren-t-just-decoration-
Another thing I noticed about the Star Bolt’s is they don’t need to line the whole building but rather can be used in any myriad of possibilities with strategic placement. See the pictures below from https://www.solorealty.com/secret-life-buildings-star-bolts/.
This is a building with just 2 stars to repair it.
This a building with 3 stars at different spacing to reinforce it.
I hope you found this interesting! We have a few of these buildings and although they are old, many of our buildings and apartments have been renovated recently to keep them up to date and in great shape! A few examples of our brick buildings with Star Bolts are 107 11th St which is in the first picture you saw, 919 Jacob St which I listed above, and 50 Brunswick Ave.
If you’re interested in any of our options, check us out at https://amicustroy.com/fall-24-spring-25!
