My dad lives in a Bungalow and the front of the house is what I would describe as sandstone bricks.
Its 100 years old and there are lots of gaps in the mortar between the bricks. He is talking about getting the brickwork painted (that's another argument I will be having with him) but it would first of all need the mortar re pointed to fill the holes and general wear and tear.
I have seen products like www.diy.com/nav/build/building-materials/aggregates-cement/concrete___mortars/U-Can-Pointing-Repair-Mortar-1-25Kg-12047509?skuId=12568215 which look simple enough but I assume there is no way to prevent the difference in colours between old and new mortar? Will new dry in eventually to same colour ?
I really don't fancy having to scrape out and redo the whole lot!
Any advice would be appreciated ( I have already started with the "get a brickie in to do it dad")
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>> Any advice would be appreciated ( I have already started with the "get a brickie
>> in to do it dad")
You can change the colour of mortar with various dyes in the water when you mix it, the new mortar is almost guaranteed not to be the same colour. The old loose stuff needs to be raked out, and you may need a lime mortar.
Ever done it before? its a terribly tedious job, and easy to stain and ruin the existing bricks if you don't get the mix right.
As far as painting the bricks? slap him.
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And observe that the balance of the progress of moisture will be affected from how the house originally was, and it's not inconceivable to gain a localised damp problem at the sides of the windows.
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Cheers for info re dyes and lime mortar.
I have done normal bricks and mortar, building a wee barbecue wall etc but never repointed.
Although I said bricks, these are probably best described as blocks . Far more "brick" than mortar in the wall if you know what I mean.
I have already wire brushed out the loose stuff but quite a lot of the existing mortar is still absolutely solid (which you would expect something must be holding the house together).
Might give it a try on a less obvious area and see how it looks before progressing any further!
Or alternatively, a wee Facebook message to see if anyone I know, knows a brickie!
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I cheat when repointing stone work (our house is stone)..
I fill cracks and funny difficult bits after I have used masking tape on either side of the crack... stops staining the stone with mortar...
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Its all manual labour which costs.
You could start with a mortar rake like this:
www.screwfix.com/p/mortar-rake-8-x-75mm/31307
And then finish off with a mortar gun like this:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRKcAW1OTnk
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>> And then finish off with a mortar gun like this:
>>
>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRKcAW1OTnk
Ruddy hell, you ever tried using one of them for long runs? Its an instant carpal tunnel syndrome giver. The pain in your arm and wrist will be immense
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Cant say I've used one :S The idea seems reasonable though. I'm sure you can hire powered ones.
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You need a powered arm >:)
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A grout bag (as for icing, only bigger) should work just as well...
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Wouldn't like to use a mortar gun on a ladder.You need scaffolding.
Pointed a wall years ago.Took me a while but got there in the end.Tedious work I used a small trowel.
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It isn't difficult, it is a bit tedious, gotta use the right cement mix and get the water-shedding slope right, dead easy.
The cousins have a house in Brittany with a forty-foot-plus high rough stone gable end. A guy did a fabulous pointing job, rubbed with hessian between the stones, I think using only ladders, the sort of long ones I wouldn't be able to climb. I know the cat, Oxford (town not university) lad, right hooligan and salt of the earth in my book. Speaks Breton like a native to my soppy Paris-trained ear. His parents are terrific value too and belong to a British coterie down there in Brittany.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Mon 15 Sep 14 at 23:33
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In our old house, we had a really big gable end in need of repointing. Some could be raked out easily. Someone knocked on the door and asked about pointing - touting for business.
Well he offered to do it cheap (very cheap) and in the end we had half a dozen guys working on it (ladders but no scaffolding) and it took them a lot longer than they quoted. Some was solid/fine so we acknowledged that was okay to leave. But barmy to offer to do it for what we paid :-)
Sold it in 2009 so I assume it's still the same mortar on the gable end now.
And there's no way I could even climb a ladder as high as it was on the actual pinnacle of the gable. And H&S would have something to say too.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Tue 16 Sep 14 at 00:13
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If you do get a bit of mortar stain on the bricks, B&Q brick and patio cleaner works well. Just use sparingly with an old toothbrush and wash it off. Works in seconds.
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Re-pointing brickwork - Zero
