William Pitcher Farmstead HSR

Experiment 10 Penetration of Water: Capillary Action
Sample 2 is a piece of a brick from the chimney on the east wall of room 105.
It is more smoothly formed. The piece is approximately 4.5”x2”x2”. It has a
pitted finish on one face and a wiped finish on the other. There are many voids
and folds visible on the broken edge. There are many inclusions of varying
sizes. Tiny, gray, angular pieces of stone; tiny fragments of brick; large (1cm)
rounded pebbles.
Observations
After two minutes in 1 cm of water, Sample 1 began to deteriorate, spalling and
calving like a glacier. Both samples initially absorbed water at the same rate,
but Sample 1 absorbed the water in an irregular pattern, some areas wicking
higher than others.
At three hours the bottom of Sample 1 had completely disintegrated. The
sample when wet is burgundy and brown and gray. The inside reveals some
small aggregate, but appears to be mostly clay.
Sample 2, after a small amount of deterioration early on in the testing,
remained stable. The sample is bright, classic brick red when wet. The outside
3/16” can be scraped away in a paste, but the inside is still firm at the end of
three hours.