Tuckpointing & Repointing
This is the process of cutting out fretting mortar joints or in some cases joints which have been repointed over the years with the wrong materials i.e. cement based mortar and then repointing with a suitable lime based mortar. This can be done either as work proceeds, by striking off the bedding mortar flush with the face of the masonry, or as a separate exercise if the outer part of bedding mortar has been deliberately left recessed or is raked back from the surface.
For brickwork and stonework, the width, profile and the texture of the joints affect their visual character. Often these respond to locally available materials and can have a local distinctiveness. Traditional mass-masonry wall construction (which includes most walls built before 1919) works on the basis that moisture entering a wall is able to escape as water and water vapour as easily as possible. Lime mortars can readily handle the transmission of water and water vapour between the inside and outside of a masonry wall, owing to the complex interconnected pore structure of masonry.
Heritage Tuckpointing and Repointing
The two main reasons for lime-pointing repairs are:
- The original lime pointing has decayed over time and needs to be replaced. This may be the result of gradual decay through weathering or failure as a result of poor maintenance.
- Blocked gutters or overflow pipes.
The masonry has been re-pointed with a cement-based (or other inappropriate) mortar at an earlier date, which is causing problems to the building and/or the adjacent masonry and must be replaced with a more appropriate mortar.
K&S Restorations carry out tuckpointing & repointing jobs ranging from the identification and remediation of areas suffering from fretting to repointing full elevations of any stone or brick structure, whilst always ensuring we carefully match the style and colour of the original mortar pointing.
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- Brick pointing
- Stone pointing
- Tuck pointing
- Chimney repointing