Repointing London:
mortar falling out from between your bricks?
If you can rake the joints out with a screwdriver, or the mortar is sandy to the touch, the wall has stopped keeping water out. That is what repointing fixes, and doing it wrong is worse than leaving it.
Pointing is
the weather skin.
On a traditional solid wall the bricks carry the load. The mortar takes the movement and lets the wall breathe out any water that gets in. It is a sacrificial layer, meant to decay before the brick does and to be replaced.
Once the joints go soft and hollow, water sits in the wall, freezes in winter and takes the face off the brick. Repointing while the bricks are still sound is routine maintenance. Two more winters can turn it into brick replacement.
Signs your wall needs repointing
Joints recessed well behind the brick face, mortar that crumbles to the touch, damp patches inside on a solid wall, and plants growing from the joints.
Cement is not
a stronger option.
Most poor repointing in London is cement mortar on a wall built in lime. Cement is harder and less permeable than the brick around it, so water escapes through the brick instead and takes the face off as it goes. You end up with crisp grey joints standing proud of crumbling bricks.
Historic England's guidance is clear that repointing mortar should be slightly weaker and more permeable than the masonry. On a Victorian or Georgian property that means lime, matched for strength and colour. On later houses built in cement mortar, a matched cement mix is fine, and the skill is in telling the two apart before the first joint is raked.
How repointing is done,
in simple steps.
Brickwork is led by a bricklayer with more than 30 years' experience, used to running both small crews and large teams.
1. Raked out by hand
Joints are cut back to at least twice their height with hand tools, so the arris of each brick survives. Angle grinders are how most of London's widened, ragged joints happened.
2. Filled in layers
The wall is dampened and the mortar pressed in in layers, not one thick fill.
3. Finished to match
Joint profile and colour are matched to the original rather than the mason's preference, then protected while the lime cures.
What your report
probably said.
Phrases like mortar eroded, open joints, or repointing required to the front elevation all mean the same work. Send us the paragraph and a photo and we will price exactly what it describes, including anything else noted on the same elevation.
Chimney stacks and garden walls
These are the most exposed brickwork on any property and usually need repointing first. A stack is normally done from a scaffold alongside the flaunching and flashings, and a garden wall is best done with the coping rebedded at the same time, because water coming in at the top undoes new pointing on the faces within a few winters.
Questions we get
asked most.
Get a written
price.
Monday to Saturday 9am to 8pm, Sunday 9am to 3pm. All London boroughs.
Message us on WhatsAppSend the paragraph from your report or a photo and we will price the work it describes.
Often needed
alongside this.
Areas we cover.
We take repointing work across all 32 London boroughs. Most of our work is in west London, in Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington, Chiswick and White City, and in south west London, in Putney, Wandsworth and Wimbledon. We also work in south east London, in Greenwich, Blackheath and Lewisham.
If your property is outside these areas, call us anyway. We travel across London and will tell you honestly if a job is too far to price properly.