Mortar and pointing

[con1_uk]

Hello,

We had new windows fitted last year and when the kitchen window was fitted we found out the Vertical bricks over the window are not supported. The new window went in and the bricks where then secure.

I think some of the movement has caused the mortar to fall out and it needs replacing.

What do I need is there some ready mixed stuff available? What tools do I need? How do I match the colour of the existing stuff?

Thanks.

 

[noseall]

you will need a pointing trowel, a hawk, a jointing iron and a shovel.

if your home has been built with a readymixed batch mortar then tough luck.

if it is an old lime mortar then you will need to mix something similar. a typical lime mix would be 6 sand, 1 lime and 1/2 cement.

the sand type, i'm afraid, will be trial and error, using whatever sand is available at the local builders merchant. we sometimes have to use a blend of sands to achieve the colour we need.

 

[con1_uk]

Thanks for your reply.

I am nearly ready to do this work.......

Been a busy few weeks.


Thanks again.

 

[^woody^]

You're wasting your time repointing. Plastic frames expand/contract quite a bit, and the soldiers resting on it will bob up and down with it.

You need to fit an external tray lintel to keep the bricks off the frame

 

[Shytalkz]

You're wasting your time repointing. Plastic frames expand/contract quite a bit, and the soldiers resting on it will bob up and down with it.

You need to fit an external tray lintel to keep the bricks off the frame

Agree, more or less, with what Woody says: covered on another thread http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=124744. Tray lintels are ok, if a) the span is not too great, b) the load is not too great and c) the brickwork is adequately tied to the inner leaf. Otherwise, as an upside-down L, there is not a lot of rigidity and it can sway laterally, with the result that top fixing the frame to it and being subjected to wind pressure and/or opening and closing of the window can result in lateral movement and new cracking of the brickwork.

I've never understood why window companies never sort this at the time of installation. It will be bleedin' obvious that there is no lintel and that, in the vast majority of cases, the owner will be back and complaining. And rightly so.

FENSA doesn't address this at all, but imho, structural adequacy is more important than an installation complying with thermal regulations.

Anyhoo...back on topic, pointing up is, as Woody says, merely palliative and you'll be back doing it again at some point. Have a go at the window installers as well; if enough people did this, maybe they would start getting the message and look a bit more carefully at the time of their survey and also at installation stage....