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Pointing - Breathing New Life Into Your Brick and Stone Work

Re-pointing a brick or stone wall involves removing the original deteriorating mortar and replacing it with fresh mortar in a style (e.g. tuckpointing, flush or struck) and colour (using coloured oxides) that highlights the best features of the wall.

Re-pointing your home will completely transform its appearance and will increase its value, protect against damp, protect the structural integrity of the building and restore heritage buildings to their original beauty.

Re-pointing is one of the few pieces of work you can have done on your home that will not only make it look great but will also help protect your most valuable asset for years to come. It requires specialist skills and is labour intensive.

Most people get their car serviced annually to ensure it continues to run smoothly and to look after their investment. However, we often neglect our homes which are by far the bigger investment and can cost a lot more to repair once they start to deteriorate.

Re-pointing is a one-off cost. When viewed as a percentage of your home’s value and divided over the many years that it will continue to protect your most valuable asset, it is certainly worth it.

A lot of re-pointing companies will cut corners so they can get the job done quicker and cheaper, however the quality of their workmanship is compromised in the process.

Some of the ways they do this are:

Not grinding out the joints deep enough. They lay the new mortar on top of the crumbling original mortar which looks good for a couple of years but will then start to fall out.
Grinding out the joints carelessly, damaging bricks in the process.
Re-pointing with a machine instead of by hand. When we do it the traditional way, we are able to press the mortar in firmly so it adheres to the wall behind it, fills the joints thoroughly and we locate and fill any holes in the process. A machine is not able to do this and will often just apply a thin layer of mortar, behind which there may be holes and air pockets which will lead to crumbling joints again down the line.

All of this will leave you back at square one, having to pay to get the job done again. It makes sense to get it done right the first time.

Chris, the director of the business, learnt his trade from traditional craftsmen in England and has specialised knowledge and skills when it comes to restoring heritage buildings. He is versatile in presenting his workmanship in both traditional and contemporary styles.

Based on Chris’ specialised knowledge and skills, our team are able to:

Replicate any style of joint (e.g. tuckpointing, flush or struck).
Use your choice of mortar colour to either blend in with the bricks or stand out as a design feature.
Source matching bricks for any bricks that need to be replaced.
Use traditional lime mortar rather than cement based mortar, in keeping with the original heritage style of your home. Over time, buildings naturally ‘settle’ causing minor movement in walls. While cement based mortar might crack with this movement, lime mortar moves along with the walls giving it greater longetivity. Unlike cement based mortar, lime mortar also ‘breathes’ and allows water to escape from walls which helps to keep damp problems at bay.

One of our clients gave their home an incredible facelift by repointing the brickwork and updating their front garden wall, as shown in the below 'before' and 'after' pictures (you can click on the pictures to enlarge them):

'BEFORE' 'AFTER'

'BEFORE' 'AFTER'

Another client gave their stone wall a beautiful yet cost effective makeover by having us re-point it for them, as can be seen in the below 'before' and 'after' pictures:

'BEFORE' 'AFTER'