Brick repair and tuckpointing: costs and what to ask

Repointing is removing deteriorated mortar from the joints of a masonry wall and replacing it with new mortar. The National Park Service says it's also called pointing, and somewhat inaccurately tuckpointing.¹ Strictly, tuckpointing is a mostly decorative raised joint of mortar or lime putty laid on top of flush mortar joints.¹ If a quote says tuckpointing, ask whether it means cutting out and refilling the joints.

The Park Service wrote its brief for historic buildings, and it says the guidance suits other masonry buildings as well.¹

The decision to repoint usually follows an obvious sign: disintegrating mortar, cracks in the joints, loose bricks or stones, damp walls or damaged plaster inside.¹ HUD's inspection guide says to check all exposed masonry for cracking, spalling, bulging, leaning and mortar deterioration.²

• Worn or crumbling joints. Mortar deterioration is most often found where there's too much moisture: near leaking downspouts, below windows and at the tops of walls. HUD's remedy is to redirect the water and point the joints.²
• Cracks. They can run along the joints or through the bricks, from settling foundations, seasonal heat and moisture movement, freeze and thaw cycles or rusting metal in the wall. HUD says every crack should be evaluated for its cause, and that cracks which open and close with the seasons should get a flexible sealant, since mortar would hold them open and cause more cracking.² For masonry problems it advises bringing in a structural engineer.²
• Spalling, dusting or flaking brick. Water that gets into brick and freezes spalls its outer layers. Very little can be done for a damaged brick except replace it, but directing water away and pointing the joints can slow or stop the damage.²
• White deposits. As moisture evaporates from masonry it leaves soluble salts on the surface as efflorescence. Those surface salts are usually fairly harmless, but salts crystallizing inside a brick can make its surface spall off.¹ HUD lists efflorescence among the signs of water getting into a basement.²

Fix the cause first. Repointing alone won't solve damage from leaking roofs or gutters, settlement, rising damp or hard weather exposure, and without those repairs the mortar will keep failing and the repointing will have been a waste of time and money.¹

Mortar for repointing should be softer or more permeable than the bricks and no harder or more impermeable than the old mortar. A wall's stresses from expansion, contraction, moisture and settlement have to be relieved somewhere. Mortar stronger than the bricks won't give, so the stress goes through the bricks instead, and the cracking and spalling that follow can't be repaired easily. A break between mortar and brick is easier to fix by repointing.¹ The brief shows a soft brick wall pointed with hard portland cement mortar, where trapped moisture popped the surface off the bricks.¹

HUD's guide agrees: pointing lower strength mortar with high strength mortar can do serious damage because the new mortar can't flex with the rest of the joint, so it should be similar to or compatible with the original.²

The new mortar should also match the old in color, texture and tooling, with sand that matches the old sand.¹ Premixed masonry cement from a hardware store makes high strength mortar and generally isn't recommended for historic masonry.¹

The Park Service describes the job this way:¹

• A test panel first. The contractor repoints a small area with the same methods planned for the rest. For brick, a 3 foot by 3 foot area is usually enough, preferably away from the front of the house. It sets the standard the rest of the work is judged by.
• Cutting out. Old mortar comes out to at least 2 to 2 1/2 times the joint's width, which for most brick joints is about 1/2 to 1 inch deep, plus any loose mortar beyond that. In most cases, hand chisels and hammers pose the least risk to the bricks. Power saws on thin brick joints almost always chip the bricks' edges, and power tools should never be used on vertical joints.
• Preparing the joint. The cut leaves square corners at the back. The joints are rinsed with water and should be damp, with no standing water, when they're filled.
• Filling in layers. Joints cut deeper than 1 inch are filled first. Mortar goes in about 1/4 inch at a time, each layer left to reach thumbprint hardness before the next, until the joint is flush. Layering keeps shrinkage down.
• Tooling. When the last layer is thumbprint hard, the joint is tooled to match the old joints.
• Weather. Wall temperatures between 40 and 95 degrees F keep the mortar from freezing or drying too fast.
• Cleanup. Metal bristle brushes should never be used on historic masonry. A white bloom in the first few months usually weathers away, and muriatic acid shouldn't be used on it, since it can bring out more salts.

These are national published ranges from cost guides. They aren't quotes, and your price depends on how much of the wall needs work and how hard it is to reach.

Repointing is expensive and slow because so much of it is handwork. It's better to repoint only the areas that need it, but once 25 to 50 percent or more of a wall needs work, doing the whole wall may cost less than spot repointing. The same can be true where expensive scaffolding is needed, unless most of the mortar is sound and unlikely to need replacing soon. One foot of pointing in five places costs more than five feet in one run.¹

Your state's rules page on this site has its licensing rules for masonry work, with their sources.

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• What's causing the damage, and whether the price includes fixing it or only the joints.
• How they'll match the mortar's color, texture, sand and joint shape, and whether the new mortar will be softer than your bricks and no harder than the old mortar.
• Whether they'll do a test panel first, and where on the house.
• How they'll cut out the joints, by hand or with a grinder or saw, and how deep.
• Whether the price covers the whole wall or only the worst areas, and what they'd charge per foot if they find more.
• Whether any bricks need replacing, and where the replacements will come from.
• How they'll clean up, and whether wire brushes or acid will be used.

Before you hire anyone, how to check a masonry contractor has what to look up. If you'd like to hear from masonry contractors near you, you can send a request through the request form.