Tuckpointing Stone Wall Repair

Older mortar made with lime and sand gives way rather nicely with a hammer and chisel.

Tuckpointing stone wall repair.

Pack more mortar around the stone. Repairing old stone walls is an art as well as a practical skill. Tuckpointing is the process of repairing or refilling mortar joints in brick. Tuckpointing won t fix cracking or crumbling bricks or cracks in walls caused by a shifting foundation.

The steps we show here will work on any brick walls chimneys and retaining walls. We take out the crumbling rotting mortar and put new in. This of course costs more money to repair than it does to tuckpoint the mortar joints in the first place as mentioned earlier in point number 4 above. Courtesy of the national park service.

But you can pick away at it in your free time area by area. Professional tuckpointing usually runs around 9 to 15 per square foot depending on the height of the wall and the standard rate for mason services in your area. Tuck pointing a stone foundation wall is a job that requires time patience and a few specialty tools. We determine this by what type of stone the wall is made of and the condition the stone is in.

The type of mortar used to repair the crumbling joints is the most important factor. Repointing an old brick wall with soft lime mortar. Tuckpointing isn t difficult or expensive the only real investment is your time. To replace large stones that have fallen from the wall lay down a thick bed of mortar and set the stone in place.

Learn how to repoint stone masonry like a pro. There are many practitioners of this craft but probably few as affable and knowledgeable as ian cramb a scotsman now living in eastern pennsylvania. Then lightly mist the mortar with water and use a soft bristle brush to smooth the mortar flush against each stone. Newer mortar made of portland cement often has to be ground out with power tools.

The only way to repair the situation at this point is to tear down the brick and stone masonry wall and relay the whole thing again. The process of fixing crumbling mortar in a stone wall is quite tedious but it s also pretty simple. Well that s it tuckpointing in a nutshell. Demonstrates how to do some brick and mortar repairs aka tuck pointing on your home.

Eddie greer of better home inspection and improvements llc.