Repointing.

[Vormulac]

Morning all,

I have been slowly converting my garage to a workshop and although I have been aware of a problem for some time, I have thus far managed to keep it buried at the back of my to do list. My house is a 1930's semi and the attendant garage is suffering for its 70-odd years, basically the mortar between the bricks on the inside is crumbling away (not on the outside though, so I'm guessing that has been repointed at some point in the last century) and I really have to address it as it looks like if I attempted to screw a shelf to the wall the whole ruddy thing would collapse.

My question is to anyone who has done repointing before - how?

I know the principle: Remove crappy old mortar and squidge in nice new mortar. Does anyone have any advice on tools that make this arduous looking task easier. Can you squirt the new stuff in with a caulking gun?

I have the last week in June off and think I really should attempt to get it done then, so all advice gratefully received.

V.

 

[OLD]

Have a look at page 757 of screwfix there is a mortar gun .

 

[lurker]

If its 1930 it will be lime mortar I'd guess.
If you use modern cement stuff (like wot I did!) it will look rubbish & fall out

you need to replace like with like.
I found advice on lime mortar using google

For finishing (smoothing out) a bit of bent 15mm copper pipe works well.

Slow job !!

Was thinking of getting a gun like OLD suggests when I next get a round tuit

 

[Paul.J]

I used cement for a bit of pointing on our,as Lurker says it looks rubbish.
Paul.J.

 

[Vormulac]

Oh crumbs, I thought lime mortar/plaster was only used by hippies on Grand Designs! Any ideas where you get that stuff? :shock:

 

[lurker]

Tis easy to make
bit more time consuming & hazardous than portland

Be careful to get right coloured (red, yellow etc) sand to match existing
Do a bit at a time.

wear "marigolds"

 

[Harbo]

Have a look at the following:-
http://www.ibstock.com/pdfs/technical-support/traditional-lime-mortar.pdf[/url]
Best to check what mortar you have got before going down the "Lime Way".

A gun makes repointing much easier than using a pointing trowel and hawk. (Though refilling can be a bit of a pain?)
Also have a look at mortar mixes and use of plasticers (do not have the info to hand). Colour match (generally the sand used) carefully to match existing or it will stick out like a sore thumb!

Rod

 

[Vormulac]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'm not overly concerned about it blending in with the original, as I'll probably be cladding or painting most of it, I'm just trying to prevent the building collapsing!

Any suggestions about the easiest way to get the crappy old stuff out from between the bricks in the first place? Is this something I can justify buying a Fein for? :wink:

 

[Paul Chapman]

Any suggestions about the easiest way to get the crappy old stuff out from between the bricks in the first place? Is this something I can justify buying a Fein for? :wink:

A much cheaper option - use one of these

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[lurker]

I raked out with an old pointing trowel - don't go berserk with this.

Practising on this unseen garage wall will be useful for when the outside house repiont falls off :evil: :evil: :evil:

 

[tiler99]

http://www.axminster.co.uk/group_id//pr ... m#catprods
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... e=1&jump=4
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... e=1&jump=0
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro ... 6&ts=63909
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro ... 3&ts=63909
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro ... 8&ts=63909
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro ... 4&ts=63909


That should do ya :wink:

 

[White House Workshop]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'm not overly concerned about it blending in with the original, as I'll probably be cladding or painting most of it, I'm just trying to prevent the building collapsing!

If it's 1930's brick you may be as well cladding with lime mortar, too. I bought a house that had been done with cement mortar years ago; a little water got in one winter and within 2 years the whole wall had spalled and the cement fell off. :roll: Expensive to put it all back... Stick to paint!

 

[OLD]

If its lime mortar it will come out easy just scraping and the odd blow with a plugging chisel page 760 screwfix.
This may be usefulhttp://www.mikewye.co.uk/mikeprices.htm

 

[engineer one]

most important advice is do it a section at a time, and a level of bricks at a time. rake it out if loose with an old file or something, then cram in the new mortar, and as it gets near to going off, use an old pipe.

or actually what you are wanting to do is get an angle to allow the water to run off, so use the back of an old chisel, and run it along at an angle of about 10 degrees at the top so that the mortar kind of overhangs the lower brick .

paul :wink:
who's in wembley and has a fein :twisted:

 

[Shultzy]

Vormulac, this is a wall chaser with adjustable cutting width 7-29mm, cutting depth adjustable from 10-32mm. The device has a suction connector diam. 32mm for connecting to a vacuum cleaner.

http://www2.westfalia.net/shops/tools/p ... 87b3e0cb43

 

[Shrubby]

Try raking out the old mortar by hand first ,if this looks arduous then go down the powertool route. Angle grinders produce horrific dust (needing M class extraction - quartz silica etc) an SDS drill which can chisel is a good alternative. For lime products you could try Oldhousestore

 

[Vormulac]

Wow! Thanks guys, lots of useful information there. Tiler - what are you trying to do to my bank balance?!? :wink: :lol:

 

[SammyQ]

What the **** is this preoccupation with lime mortar? My 1904 house (solid wall, no cavity) is held together with cement that used unwashed beach sand for the mix. I can rake out sea shells from between the bricks by hand - fingernails!
If you want to get the job done speedily, simply use an angle grinder and a face mask. I manage about two metres square per day and usually only blast 30 linear feet of jointing at a time. I find no problem with red clay bricks in using cement based mortar and my first job is now 12 years old and still solid. It does of course match the original finish. I find a plasterer's hawk and a stiffish consistency helps a lot, as does a small, very pointed trowel.

Vormulac -you don't need fancy toys!! It's how you do it not what you do it with!!!!

Sam