What Is Masonry Repair
The strongest and most durable construction material for a long time has been the brick. This is true as buildings made of bricks are still here in the present day. But you need to know that there is also a weakness when it comes to masonry. So every time a homeowner will discover an extensive moisture damage or crumbling bricks, he or she needs to seek help from a professional. And you should always do something right away if you will see that the mortar joints are decaying. If you want to know how you can prolong and preserve the structural integrity of your brickwork, then you need to read this article.
First of all, you will need some toosl. You should have power tools like a rotary hammer drill that has a flat chisel head bit and an angle grinder with a diamond blade of 4 to 4.5 inches. You will need to make use of a flat blade that will press the new mortar to the joints, as well as a tuck and pointer trowel. It is also important to have a joint raker or some other similar tool for the shaping and smoothing of the wet paste in order to complete the repair. It is also important to have a bag or mortar and mix it in a bucket.
It is important to know how bad the problem is so that a successful masonry will be done. You can do this by using a house key and scratch it on the joints between the brick. You need to know that solid mortar does not crumble so if it will come out in chunks, then you really need to have it replaced. After gathering this information, it is important to use an angle grinder to create a horizontal cut below and above every joint. After the bad sections will be cut loose, the hammer drill will be working through the grooves and will chisel them out of the wall. A stiff paintbrush can also be used to clean out the new grooves.
A new batch of mortar is needed once the bad mortar will be removed. The mortar will be mixed with water depending on the instructions on the bag and the final consistency of the mortar must be similar to a thick peanut butter. The trowel will be placed in the empty groove with a glob of past on top of it. The tuck pointer will be used to tightly pack the fresh mortar between the bricks. It is also important to make sure that the paste is not set and hard during the process of filling the grooves with fresh mortar. A new masoned joint usually is ready to strike after thirty minutes of application. That is why it is important for you to always ask for help from a professional when doing a masonry repair.