Quick Answer: What Is The Purpose Of Pointing

Pointing :- It is the art of finishing the mortar joints in the exposed brick or stone masonry with suitable cement or lime mortar, in order to protect the joints from weather effects and also to improve the appearance of building structure. Pointing is a type of front of the house exposed finish on masonry work.

What is the purpose of pointing in brickwork?

Pointing is the term given to the ‘finish’ that is between the bricks or stone used to build your house. Depending on the age of the building, the mortar used to lay the stone or brick will either be made from lime, or more recently, cement. Incorrect pointing causes irreparable damage to older buildings.

Why do walls need repointing?

Why should I have my walls repointed? helps prevent heat loss through the walls. After rain, water can freeze in the bricks and surrounding mortar, expanding and causing damage. This freeze-thaw weathering does not look good and ignoring damaged or substandard mortar could lead to a damp and cold house.

Is repointing a DIY job?

Repointing is a straightforward job and the materials required are not expensive — but the cost of the labour involved in brickwork repointing can be quite high. It can also be hard to find a builder willing to take on small repointing jobs, which is why many people choose to carry out repointing on a DIY basis.

What happens if you don’t repoint brickwork?

The process of “repointing” is to replace the old mortar and holds the bricks back together again. A lack of mortar would also mean that water can seep into your property and create problems such as water damage or damp.

What procedure should be followed for pointing?

Pointing is carried out in the following steps : The mortar of the masonry joints to be covered by pointing is raked out at least to a depth of 20 mm. The dust from the masonry joints is removed by brushes. The surface is then washed with clean water and it is kept wet for a few hours.

What is the best mortar mix for pointing?

Mortar Mix for Pointing The preferable mortar mix ratio for pointing is 1-part mortar and either 4 or 5 parts building sand. The ratio will vary depending on what exactly is being pointed. For bricklaying, you will usually want a 1:4 ratio with plasticiser added to the mixture.

Do you need to repoint before rendering?

2 Answers from MyBuilder Bricklayers Hi, Don’t worry about repointing before, who ever is rendering for you should fill any imperfections will the first coat.

Can you repoint a house yourself?

Repointing is a job that you can do yourself if you have the skills, but it is best to get a professional bricklayer to at least check it first and give advice. Like many jobs, pointing can look deceptively simple when you watch a professional doing it.

How do I waterproof my pointing?

Concrete Waterproofing Admixture Just dilute 1:5 with water (1 part Pointing Solution to 5 parts water) with Kingfisher Pointing Mortar or with conventional sand and cement (1 part cement to 4 parts sand).

How do I get rid of old pointing?

Existing mortar joints can be cut-back using either chisels, rakes or grinders.

1. Soft can be removed using hammer and chisel or a mortar rake.
2. Cutting wheels are always used to remove hard pointing and also where joints are over-filled.

Does repointing stop damp?

Repointing will stop damp, but only if it is the source of the problem. Damaged pointing can cause penetrating damp. This means repointing is a common way to fix penetrating damp.

How much should Pointing cost?

Get a free quote The cost of repointing is typically around £20 to £30 per square metre. So, for a whole wall on a medium-sized home, the cost could be £1,000 to £1,500. Repointing the brickwork around an entire home would be around £2,500 to £3,500.

When should you repoint brickwork?

When to repoint old walls A wall with soft mortar pointing needs to be repaired once the mortar has eroded well behind the face of the masonry units. Erosion will occur unevenly over the surface of a wall; the time for repointing has come when the mortar has receded 5mm to 10mm back from the face.

What happens if it rains after pointing?

Light rain should not affect the pointing really – only when it gets heavier that it causes a problem Eg : washing mortar back out or running down the face of the brick. If this has happened the builder has made a poor decision on weather conditions and should cover work up to prevent more rain damage occurring.

What is the difference between pointing and jointing?

The words jointing and pointing are commonly loosely used. Jointing is the operation of finishing off a mortar joint as the brickwork is raised, whereas pointing is the operation of filling the joint with a specially selected material for the sake of appearance or as weather protection to old lime mortar.

What is pointing in civil engineering?

Pointing is the finishing of mortar joints in brick or stone masonry construction. Pointing is the implementing of joints to a depth of 10 mm to 20 mm and filling it with better quality mortar in desired shape. It is done for cement mortar and lime mortar joints.

Can you repoint in the rain?

Repointing can be a long process though, and by extension, an expensive one if you bring in outside support. One thing is very important to note, however – repointing should never be tackled during the winter, as wind and rain will damage the freshly-applied mortar.

Is repointing easy?

The process of repair, known as repointing, is pretty easy (if a bit time consuming). Undoubtedly, it’s a smart thing to do. That’s because crumbling mortar, if not fixed, allows water to seep in between the bricks, causing them to swell and crack and become generally blow-downable.

How often should repointing be done?

There should therefore be cycles of repointing at about 50 year intervals where the brick remains the permanent feature and the mortar is the element that is replaced. Using inappropriate hard cement mortar will reverse this process.

Does repointing strengthen?

Repointing only restores joints; any other damage will continue to worsen, eventually causing the entire wall to split in places. In some cases, repointing can even increase the speed at which the structure cracks completely.