Repointing is a vital procedure, which marks the restoration of the mortar joints in the structures made with brickwork. As time elapses, the nature’s harsh elements, aging, and other aspects can bring destruction in the mortar of a home, which can hinder its structural stability and looks. The chance to remodel the look of the bricks and strengthen their construction are among the reasons the repointing is helpful. This writing aims at answering the following questions on what repointing entails embracing it and how the whole process is carried out.
Understanding Repointing
What is Repointing?
Repointing involves process of removing old or weak mortar off the face joints and hammering a fresh mortar onto the joints. This is usually done to help preserve the bricks and the wall structure further, avoid water seepage into the building, and to give the building a better looking finish.
Why is Repointing Necessary?
Preventing Water Damage: Cracks in the mortar compromise the integrity of the brick structure in the sense that water can penetrate the brickwork causing problems like dampness and mold formations and general deterioration due to water washing over the face of the bricks. Repointing is useful in filling up these gaps and thus preventing water seepage in the building.
Maintaining Structural Integrity: If the mortar has cracked or is missing then it can become a real threat to the bricks laid in the structure. Repointing acts to strengthen the joints, this helps in making the structure strong and secure enough.
Enhancing Aesthetics: As a result, mortar can look so dirty or eroded on the surface of the building in the long run. Repointing is generally needed to refresh the outlook of the brickwork, thus regaining the outlook of resembling new.
Preventing Further Decay: If the above problem is not attended to early enough then the following consequences results to more risks to the bricks and the structure. It therefore enables one to avoid further decay and very expensive costs of repair.
How Repointing is done
1. Assessment and Preparation
Inspection: Taking a closer look at the brickwork the area of mortar deterioration or absence is defined. This assists in ascertaining the degree of repointing needed in a structure or building.
Cleaning: The area that requires rebaring is washed in order to remove the rebound, soiling, loose mortar and debris. This prevents the new mortar from watering which is essential in enabling it set and bond well on the bricks.
2. Removing Old Mortar
Manual Removal: Mortar is got rid of human baton like chisels and brushes, in a careful way for the new one to be placed. In this process, special care should be taken not to harm the neighboring bricks at all.
Mechanical Removal: In some situations, mechanical instruments for cutting such as grinders, or rotary instruments may be applied to hasten the process. This is normally done carefully to avoid endangering the brick work in the process.
3. Applying New Mortar
Mixing Mortar: For the new mortar, the cement which has been recently bought, sand, and water are combined in the correct proportion to give the right consistency and color. The mix should be similar to the original mortar for blending purpose with a view of producing a similar color.
Filling Joints: Clean joints are then pointed with new mortar by using a pointing trowel or any tools resembling it. It is placed tightly into the voids with pressure and then leveled so as to sum up a skilled work.
Finishing: The mortar is tooled to correspond to the profile and texturing once it has been applied. This may include scraping or more specifically chiselling the face of the mortar so as to obtain the perfect texture that is desired.
4. Curing and Maintenance
Curing: The new mortar that has been applied requires some time to cure and to harden properly. The process of curing should be a proper and controlled process and for mortar, it is recommended that it should always be wet so that there will be no issues of cracking and bonding issues.
Inspection and Touch-Ups: After some days of curing, the area that has been repointed is then checked if there are some flaws or there is still some spaces found. Retouch can be sometimes made to smooth the surface left behind.
Choosing the Right Mortar
It is very important to choose the right sort of mortar to use on a building because poor choice can lead to repointing failure. Factors to consider include:
Type of Mortar: It is found in two variants; the lime mortar and the cement mortar. It depends with the type of brickwork that is needed and the history that is needed to be portrayed.
Color and Texture: When a new mortar needs to be made and applied, it should be of the similar color and texture as that of the earlier mortar to retain the correct appearance of the building.
Compatibility: The mortar mix for pointing should look like the new brickwork and the mortar there should also blend well with the old building and the mortar joint.
Repointing is a critical activity in ensuring that the various structures especially those made of bricks regain lost value, beauty through their bricks. Thus, repointing which involves the renewal of the mortar joints offers protection against water damages, structural integrity as well as the aesthetics of the building. Experience that is derived from the history of the project is very important so that a correct estimation is made and more importantly the process of removing old mortar has to be done carefully and the new mortar that is to be applied has to be applied accurately. Be it the house holds or the commercial buildings, repointing helps maintain the brickwork as good as new for a long time.
