Definition of "parging"

Although all of the mortar pargings were crazed, the effects of weathering were most apparent in the top pargings and in the top courses of the walls.

1941, Cyrus C. Fishburn, Douglas E. Parsons, Perry H. Petersen, Effect of Outdoor Exposure on the Water Permeability of Masonry Walls (Building Materials and Structures Report; BMS 76), Washington, D.C.: National Bureau of Standards, United States Department of Commerce; United States Government Printing Office, page 12

Concrete to receive hot-applied dampproofing will not need a coat of parging unless the wall is honeycombed, pockmarked, or otherwise too rough for the dampproofing to properly cover.

1989, H. Leslie Simmons, Repairing And Extending Weather Barriers, New York, N.Y.: Van Nostrand Reinhold, page 3839

Parging is a single layer of mortar applied directly to the wall with a trowel so that it covers the entire surface. Parges generally are rough and cover the whole masonry surface, but at times they are only applied to the joints or recessed portions of the stonework.

1991 July–August, Paul Briggs, “Mortars & Finishes”, in The Old-House Journal, volume XIX, number 4, page 37

When more than one unit thick of brick or tile is used in the wall, the back of the face brick or tile may be covered with mortar. This parging will substantially increase the waterproofing of the wall. Basement walls usually are parged.

1998, Henry S. Harrison, Houses: The Illustrated Guide to Construction, Design and Systems, 3rd edition, Chicago, Ill.: Dearborn Real Estate Education, page 200

Parging (a thin coat of cement plaster) may or may not be present on foundation walls. Below grade, it is typically applied to concrete block walls before a bituminous (asphalt-based) dampproofing coating is applied. The parging is necessary because the surface of the concrete block is too irregular to allow a continuous coating to be achieved with the bituminous material.

2003, Carson Dunlop, Principles of Home Inspection: Exteriors, Chicago, Ill.: Dearborn Real Estate Education, page 107

Use of plastic roofing cements, acrylic coatings, latex coatings, mortars and pargings to seal ICF [insulating concrete form] walls is permitted.

2010, Thomas Hart, Residential Code of New York State, Washington, D.C., Albany, N.Y.: International Code Council, Inc.; Division of Code Enforcement and Administration, United States Department of State, page 76

If you burn wood on its own, the flue gases are cooler than from a coal fire. This can result in tars condensing out within the parging and brickwork of the flue, sometimes causing brown or yellow staining on upstairs chimney breasts.

2015 April 7, Jeff Howell, “The secret of longer lasting tiles ”, in The Daily Telegraph (Property)‎, archived from the original on 22 April 2015