source: JLM Masonry & Waterproofing
Do you remember walking down a neighborhood street in the 1970s, perhaps on your way to the local hardware store or heading to a friend’s house? You might have passed rows of brick homes with weathered facades, and if you looked closely, you’d spot something odd yet familiar – a star-shaped design, nestled between the bricks. Those little stars weren’t just quirky decorations. They were working hard to hold the building together, though you might not have known it at the time.
Those star-shaped washers – often seen on old brick buildings – are actually wall retainers, part of a clever system used to keep aging structures from bowing out and collapsing. Back in the day, especially in towns where brick was king, these retainers were essential in stabilizing the walls of homes and businesses alike.
In older buildings, like the ones many of us remember visiting with our grandparents, time took its toll on the masonry walls. Bricks would shift, expand, and contract with the weather, and eventually, some walls would start to bow outward. That’s where these retainers came in handy. Anchored by long threaded rods running through the walls, the star-shaped washers on the outside would help pull everything back into place, like giving the building a much-needed hug.
What’s fascinating is how something so functional became part of the aesthetic. These retainers weren’t just about keeping the building standing – they were symbols of endurance. The star design, in particular, spread across cities and towns, becoming as iconic to the urban landscape as the buildings themselves.
Growing up, many of us might’ve seen these stars without giving them much thought, but in a way, they represented more than just a building technique. These washers told the story of how communities preserved their heritage. While the 1960s and ’70s brought a wave of modernization and suburban expansion, cities held onto these stars, maintaining their older structures rather than tearing them down.
Think of how much has changed since then – newer buildings with sleek glass fronts, yet somehow these stars still remind us of a time when architecture had a certain grit and character. They were part of the local scenery, a reminder of our connection to the past and how communities worked to preserve their surroundings.
Today, when you spot one of these stars or diamond-shaped retainers, take a moment to think about the generations of families that have passed by them, unaware of their silent labor. They held together the local grocery store, the post office, the factory down the road. They were part of the background, yet vital to preserving that familiar brick charm many of us grew up with.
