Pointing and repointing brickwork and stonework
Pointing and repointing brickwork and stonework can be a very time consuming job and although it may look easy it takes a bit of experience to get the professional finish seen on most jobs. We have outlined the basic process here.
Firstly cut out all loose and damaged mortar. You may find that some of the faces of the bricks have been damaged as a result of water getting into the joints. This can be remedied in our replacing bricks project and the science of it understood in our freeze-thaw project. You can see a wall on the left that has been cut out and , right, repointed.Cutting out is best done with a plugging chisel or small bolster. Very loose stuff can simply be raked out with a screwdriver or similar.
Rake out old joints to 10mm minimum Wire brush loose dust etc.
Mixing sand and cement (see project on this)
Place on hawk ready for easiest way to repoint
Unless you are doing all of the walls anew, it will be necessary to match the mortar you are using to the existing colour. See our project on matching sand and cement mortar.
Fill joints flush with surface, then choose finish of pointing
"Bucket handle pointing" can be done with metal pointing tool or with a short length of chopped off hosepipe run through the joint.
"Flush pointing" Done by cutting off surplus and rubbing over with back of trowel.
"Weather struck pointing" Done by using pointing trowel at an angle.
"Recessed pointing" Done by raking out mortar with tool above.
Why not check out our video section on pointing and watch the films on "lime pointing" and "repointing brick in a wall" for a visual demonstration on how this is done.
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