Repointing Old Brick Using Lime Mortar

Mike Senese always brings it on his Do It blog. Here he's shared this great video for repointing brick using lime mortar from preservationworks.us.

Lime mortar has been used for over 3,000 years and was an adhesive for almost every old brick building in the United States. These buildings continue to work best of repointed using the same lime mortar and this video shows how and why.

Charles & Hudson | Comments () |

angle grinder

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wheel has an rpm rating. Be sure that the wheel has a rating equivalent or
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wheels at a reasonable cost. This recommended level is usually on a tool's
nameplate.

Chris

at 1:00, see "Repointing Mortar Joints in Historic Masonry Buildings" preservation brief 2 national park service

Repointing mortar

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 consisered 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.

Allison

This is amazing. We have an old house that isn't that bad, but needs brick work. Major investment, but worth it in the end. Here's more on that:

http://www.oldhouseweb.com/how...