[MassHistPres] Brick nogging

[Lipsey, Ellen]

The Lewis-Dawson Farmhouse, ca. 1822 at 1090 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain (in the Arnold Arboretum) has nogging on the north and west walls.  That appears consistent with the insulation theory.  Thanks to all who have provided information on this practice in New England.

Ellen J. Lipsey
Executive Director
Boston Landmarks Commission
City Hall, Room 805
Boston, MA 02201
617-635-3850 ph
617-635-3435 fax
ellen.lipsey at cityofboston.gov


________________________________
From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Zimmerman Sally
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 1:14 PM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu; mitchell rebecca
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Brick nogging

Re: English building practices and brick infill, Abbott Cummings, Framed Houses of Mass. Bay, p. 11 states: "The use of brick for the infilling of walls, often in herringbone patterns, did not become in any sense widespread in England until the seventeenth century."

Whether nogging reflects this decorative use, I would defer to Cummings' reticence to ascribe the practice here to an English practice, but that nogging here is deliberate and not a way to dispose of construction refuse is a certainty.



Sally Zimmerman
Preservation Specialist
Historic Homeowner Program
185 Lyman Street
Waltham, MA 02452-5645
New Phone Contact:
(617) 994-6644 Direct



>>> rebecca mitchell <rufusrulesok at hotmail.com> 1/29/2010 1:01 PM >>>
James Garvin's Building History of Northern New England has a good photograph and brief discussion of brick nogging on p. 53.  When a north wall of my house (c 1725) was opened for a sill repair we discovered nogging of bricks (whole and broken) and clay.  In addition to the reasons already raised (insulation, fire retarding) I have wondered if the practice might have been simply a vestige of English building practice.  It seems more deliberate than simply a means to dispose of construction refuse.

Rebecca Mitchell
200 Portsmouth Ave.
Stratham, NH 03885
(603) PRimrose 8-7979



> From: masshistpres-request at cs.umb.edu
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> Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:00:02 -0500
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> From: Anne Grady <agrady at eonconnect.com>
> Subject: [MassHistPres] Reason fro brick nogging
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> I concur with the previous writers that the reasons for filling walls with brick were probably for insulation and protection from vermin, but I have never read anything written in the 17th or 18th centuries about the reasons. I remember Abbott Cummings being asked once about brick nogging. He said wasn't certain, but pointed out the great need for insulation. He cited a quote from Judge Samuel Sewall, who said, "The ink froze in my inkwell, though I write by a good fire in my wife's chamber."
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> Anne
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