Does your home have a brick chimney, brick-faced front, brick barbecue, or is a brick structure? While brickwork is very sturdy and long lasting, it does require maintenance from time to time. When bricks are laid, the mason uses mortar (cement with no gravel or stones) between the rows (courses) to "glue" the bricks in place. After the mortar hardens fully, it provides a solid bond between the bricks. However, with temperature fluctuations from cold to hot, rain, and all the other weather elements in play, the mortar can and will crack over time, leaving gaps that water can seep into and do further damage. Especially prevalent in cold weather climates such as ours here in New England, water will get in and sit in any cracked or open areas, and as soon as a freeze comes along, the water expands into ice and pushes against the bricks, loosening and cracking the mortar, even causing chunks to fall out and possibly cracking or breaking the bricks themselves. If left unattended, eventually all the mortar will crack and fail and ultimately you will get water intrusion into your home, or worse yet, have bricks start to fall out. This is where Ray Warren's Masonry comes in with re-pointing.
What is re-pointing? This is a procedure whereby the mortar between the bricks is ground or chiseled out and new mortar is added so as to re-strengthen the structure. Warren's Masonry specializes in this procedure. Ray and his team of professionals will come to your home and perform this work for you. Ray starts by setting up staging (ladders and scaffolding as needed and depending on configuration of the chimney or brick-work) around the areas being re-pointed. He then uses a specialized diamond-toothed blade to cut and grind out any mortar areas that are loose, soft, or missing, going as deep as possible to ensure a solid bond. He will then rinse the brickwork off of any dust and debris, and mix and apply new mortar to the open areas. Sometimes he uses what is called a bladder bag to apply the mortar - think of it as a very large, heavy-duty pastry decorating bag that he can squeeze in between the bricks and get the mortar nice and deep. If the bladder bag is not necessary, it gets pushed in with trowels. Next, Ray and his team will acid wash the surface with muriatic acid to clean up any stray mortar bits, let dry, and finally apply a professional water sealant designed specifically for brickwork. Then all that's left is clean-up. While some people refer to re-pointing as re-grouting or re-mortaring, it is all the same, and properly called re-pointing.
Have you noticed any gaps between your bricks or missing mortar? Perhaps some small cracks and gaps here and there? Then give Ray Warren a call. He and his team will come out and provide all the proper and necessary work to ensure your problem does not continue to grow and eventually fail, resulting in a much larger re-build project. Ray Warren is also licensed and insured - something that's very important when he (or anyone) works on your most valuable asset - your home. Call Ray today and he can evaluate your situation, go over the work required (and where), and get it done for you before it leads to expensive damage. Let Warren's Masonry professionally handle your re-pointing needs.