How To Repair Mortar Between Bricks On Steps

Fifty-fifty the most cute brickwork is just so much rubble without a bed of mortar to seal and hold it together.

What Is Mortar Repointing?

When mortar starts nifty, receding, and falling out of the joints, it's time to chisel out the old stuff and trowel in the new, a process called repointing. This is a unproblematic job, but it has to be done with care, using the right tools and the right materials to avoid damaging the brick and permanently compromising the integrity and advent of the wall. For me, that means using mitt tools and lime mortars like to the ones masons employed 100 years ago.

Tin can You Mortar Over Old Mortar?

If your brick is fifty years old or less, you can probably repoint information technology safely with modern, portland cement–based mortar (although the guy doing the next repointing, who'll take to grind it out, may curse your decision). But if your business firm was built before World War Ii, the mortar is likely a mix of lime putty and sand, and yous should endeavor to lucifer it. Otherwise, over fourth dimension, as the soft one-time brick swells and shrinks against the stone-difficult mortar, the bail between them will intermission, moisture will get trapped in the wall, and the brick faces volition start popping off. Traditional lime mortar acts like a cushion, flexing with the brick's movement while allowing moisture to migrate easily out of the wall.

A restoration mason can analyze old mortar and brand a compatible mix, or you tin send mortar samples to companies such as U.Due south. Heritage and get a custom blend with the same color and characteristics. You can cull between hydraulic lime, which comes in numberless and hardens when information technology reacts with water, much like portland cement, and lime putty mortar, which comes in buckets and slowly hardens by reacting with carbon dioxide in the air.

How to Mortar Bricks in 6 Steps

Step 1

Rake Out the Bed Joints

Scrape out the horizontal joints to a depth of at to the lowest degree ¾ inch. (Joints wider than ½ inch take to be deeper: 2½ times the articulation's width.) A carbide-tipped grout saw works well on these ¼-inch-wide "butter joints." (On wider joints, use a cold chisel and an engineer's hammer.) Avoid electrical angle grinders. Unless you're trained to use them, they're almost guaranteed to cut into and disfigure the brick.

Pace 2

Make clean Out the Head Joints

After removing three or four courses of bed-joint mortar, dig out the vertical joints. Exist conscientious non to hit the edges of the bricks in a higher place or below. Here, the old mortar is existence chiseled out by tapping a 5-in-1 painter's tool with a hammer.

Step 3

Wash Down the Wall

Person washing brick wall to prepare apply mortar.

Whisk abroad all the crumbly debris with a stiff-bristled castor, then cheque that the bract of your constrict-pointing trowel will fit into the articulation. If the blade is likewise wide, grind information technology down with an annoying wheel. Mist the wall with water until the brick is thoroughly damp and starts to drip; this is a critical step considering dry materials will suck the moisture out of the new mortar and prevent it from curing properly. Wait until the side by side mean solar day before filling the joints.

Step iv

Mix the Mortar

Mist the brick once again. Then, following the directions on the bag, stir water into the dry mix until it reaches the consistency of peanut butter and clings to an upended trowel. Wait until a picture show of h2o forms on the mix, about 15 minutes. Stir the water dorsum in. The mortar is at present ready to apply and remains workable for 8 hours. If it gets also dry in that time, you tin can "retemper" it occasionally by adding water.

Stride 5

Make full the Joints

Scoop a dollop of mortar onto a brick trowel or militarist, hold information technology upwardly even with a bed joint, and push the mortar against the back of the joint with the tuck-pointing trowel. Eliminate voids with a few slicing passes of the trowel'due south edge, then add more mortar until the joint is filled. Once you've finished three or four courses of bed joints, go dorsum and fill the head joints. Finally, smooth and compact all the mortar with the trowel's apartment face and scrape the backlog mortar off the brick.

Step 6

Brush the Wall

Person brushing brick wall with stiff bristle brush.

When the mortar is business firm to the touch, brush diagonally beyond it to remove any dry mortar crumbs. (Brushing in line with the joints can pull out the fresh mortar.) Then carefully sponge mortar remainder off the brick faces. For the next three days, use a tarp to protect the soft joints from the sun, wind, or hard rain, and requite the wall a daily misting to go on the brick and mortar moist.

Tools You'll Need

Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/masonry/21016676/how-to-repair-mortar-in-a-brick-wall