How To Repoint Masonry In Your Historic Home In 6 Steps
Now that you’re good and ready, it’s time to repoint your masonry. No, no — get your head out of the gutter.
Now, let the Wren’s Nest show you how through our six step guide, How To Repoint Masonry In Your Historic Home. Ready?
1. Always Listen To Mary Catherine Or Another Architect Who Knows About Preservation
But seriously, we recommend Mary Catherine. She geeks out like whoa when it comes to brick.
Did you know that there are limestone mortars in 15th Century French chateaus that still have not set? I do now.
2. Hammer Out The Old Mortar
You’re bound to have at least some mortar left between the bricks. Hammer it out carefully with a chisel. Watch them fingers.
3. Brush Out Loose Mortar
Leave a clean surface. I don’t want you to have to do this all over again.
4. Soak The Brick With Water
A sponge or a sprayer will do the trick. The older the brick, the more porous it is, so watch the brick soak it all up. You can’t apply too much water. Just let it sit for a while after soaking.
5. Slide The Mortar In
This trowel is slightly too big. It’s not the end of the world.
6. Repeat
Looks like fun, huh?
Make sure you get have the right mortar mix for the right kind of brick. We have two different mortar mixtures — one for the brick and one for the stone. I trust you to know the difference.
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Amber Suitt
Program Director
Lain Shakespeare
Executive Director
8 Comments to How To Repoint Masonry In Your Historic Home In 6 Steps
I have this horrible image of that whole wall crumbling because all the mortar has been hammered out, but those historic preservation architect experts seem to know what they’re doing. Keep up the good work!
I know this blog always strives to be educational, but this is not a topic I expected to see covered! Sounds like you’re having fun with this, or at least putting a good face on it!
David, my favorite part of this job is getting to do and learn new stuff all the time. Masonry strikes me as a really cool thing to do!
I especially like how we had this super complex mortar survey done, and they sent back all these fancy words that were basically like, “Take your shovel and head to the backyard. Start digging.”
I’m really looking forward to repairing the windows (not in this phase of the project) since so much of it is done in the old ways.
Catherine: me too.
Are you going to have a post about how to fix large holes in the foundation that were created to run ducts through? Those holes make me nervous.
Another post I would like to see would be detailing what is going to happen in all the phases of the project.
You should contact the folks at, “This Old House,” I’m sure they would do a side piece on the Wrens Nest.
Hooray for Historic Preservation.
Kirk – that is a great PR idea! I’m betting they would give a shout out to historic preservation at the WN. Lain – I’m guessing Alice Murray could find the appropriate contact for you since she does PR now and probably has a database to search through.
Jodi, okay!
Kirk, I think so re: the foundation!
Re: the phased thing, I can probably do that. I’m covering as much of what we do as possible on this blog for my amusement, maybe for yours, and for record-keeping purposes. These posts help me put together our big “this is what we did to the house” document for future stewards of the Wren’s Nest.
The traditional way to point this type of brickwork is to rake out the joints to a depth of at least 25mm (1 inch), you can use a small cold chisel for this or an angle grinder but the mess caused with an angle grinder has to be considered as someone will have to clean up. The best mix for the pointing is a 6:1:1 mortar (6 sand : 1 hydrated lime : 1 portland cement) if you want it the normal grey colour but if you want to have coloured pointing use a 4:1 (4 sand :1 portland cement) plus the colour. All the mortar colours act as a plasticiser so there is no need for the lime or fairy liquid. Fairy liquid was banned in the 1960s as a plasticiser.
Help! So much confusing information. I just bought an old sandstone house in SE Ohio that dates to 1842. It needs repointed and I have a bid from a local stonemason. After reading some of the information found online I’m a bit nervous. I don’t want to harm the structure in any way. Do I need a mortar analysis? I’m on a tight budget.