Mortar Joint Repointing

mikej460 · 7 Sep 2021

I'd also add that gauging your mix is important if you want to avoid differences in shade, especially true with NHL 3.5 etc.

Rorschach · 7 Sep 2021

mikej460 said:
Whilst I was repointing our old stone cottage an old boy in our village told me he was taught to point lime mortar into stone work using a suitably fashioned stick so he made one for me. It was a stick version of the modern one above and worked well but didn't last as long.

I did toy with the idea of making a wooden tuck pointer as I only had a smallish job to do at the time. That was until I discovered the proper tool was less than £3 delivered next day

mikej460 · 7 Sep 2021

I use one of these now in order to get a concave finish which I brush out when almost dry as this suits a lime mortar finish. The old way was to finish by dabbing a bristle brush hard into the pointing to drive in the larger grit in the sharp sand.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/marshall...lsW-2fkMLLCebUeD6WYaAnLyEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Tenacity · 12 Sep 2021

MARK.B. said:
Done a fair bit of pointing over the years and apart from a stiff finger i have lived to tell the tale. personally i would avoid using a SDS drill or mini breaker as you are likely to do more harm than good. A angle grinder works well with the right cutting disks and those carbide mortar rakes work fairly well,but you have to be careful as one slip can not only ruin your brickwork and will almost certainly ruin your day if it bites you. When doing large areas i prefer to use a point master,once set up with the right mix they are quick and easy to use and squirt the mortar right to the back of the joint. Ideally you will need to rake out around 20mm or 3/4". Take a bit of time to clean out the joints with a brush or airline.
When mixing your mortar try to get your ingredients the same for each mix or it may look awful when dry and all different shades. Use a spray bottle to dampen the joints before filling,this helps to prevent the dry brickwork and remaining old mortar from sucking out the moisture from your mix. Be mindful that you do not leave to long a time after filling the joint before you go back and finish an area, in warmer weather it will dry out and be difficult to get a good finish.
Last pointing job i did was for my mate Bob,an old village school converted to a house,took 8 weeks from start to finish and it was a pig of a job that I was glad to see the back of it .

Wow nice job, the finnish I mean yep wot a job to take on!

MARK.B. · 12 Sep 2021

Thank you

Doug71 · 12 Sep 2021

MARK.B. said:
Done a fair bit of pointing over the years and apart from a stiff finger i have lived to tell the tale. personally i would avoid using a SDS drill or mini breaker as you are likely to do more harm than good. A angle grinder works well with the right cutting disks and those carbide mortar rakes work fairly well,but you have to be careful as one slip can not only ruin your brickwork and will almost certainly ruin your day if it bites you. When doing large areas i prefer to use a point master,once set up with the right mix they are quick and easy to use and squirt the mortar right to the back of the joint. Ideally you will need to rake out around 20mm or 3/4". Take a bit of time to clean out the joints with a brush or airline.
When mixing your mortar try to get your ingredients the same for each mix or it may look awful when dry and all different shades. Use a spray bottle to dampen the joints before filling,this helps to prevent the dry brickwork and remaining old mortar from sucking out the moisture from your mix. Be mindful that you do not leave to long a time after filling the joint before you go back and finish an area, in warmer weather it will dry out and be difficult to get a good finish.
Last pointing job i did was for my mate Bob,an old village school converted to a house,took 8 weeks from start to finish and it was a pig of a job that I was glad to see the back of it .

Mark, I live in a big old converted village school in East Yorkshire which is in need of pointing, if you are ever bored feel free to pop over with your trowel .........