How to re-point brick wall?

[AndyDavis]

My brick boundary wall was pointed when it was completed some years ago, they added some black pointing liquid in the mortar to make the it, and the joints, black. The black colour seems to have washed away now and you can see the mortar. The mortar is sound and the wall solid. How do I go about re-pointing to get it back to its black joints?

I don’t really fancy taking off good mortar from the joints in case I end up damaging the wall. Can I just get some of the black chemical from a builders merchant and paint it between the bricks?

 

[^woody^]

Pointing is the weathering face to the mortar and is what gives it is weather resistance. Not having a properly ironed joint or just colouring mortar where bits are missing will lead to damage from rain and frost.

Mortar dye works with the cement in mortar and can not be used on its own.

Otherwise there should be some pointing videos on youtube

 

[AndyDavis]

Thanks for that. The mortar in the wall appears fine. I've had a poke and nothings fallen off or come loose. So is it worth taking off what looks like sound mortar just for the sake of the colour? Or am I storing up trouble if I don't do something now, even if it means hacking off some mortar.

 

[Builder2011]

There will be a lot of professional work to do if you try to hack out good pointing just to replace it professionally with mortar dyed black.

I have replaced sections of weather bricks with cement and then painted over the cement with matching acryllic paint. The odd part of painted cement is really like the surrounding bricks.

So try just painting the pointing with a black acryllic paint. Acryllic paint is a type used by artists and is available at most art shops or via a web based art shop. Use a water colour art type brush or stiffer art type brush which gives you the accuracy without painting over the bricks.

Paint in dry sunny weather and paint a small discreet part first as a tester.

 

[AndyDavis]

I'll give a go. Cheers!