pointing old victorian 1905 house engineering bricks

[philrobinson]

Hi Guys and girls

I am wanting to get some tips for re-pointing my engineering bricks.
The house was built in 1905 and is in need of some tlc.

Some of the joints are very narrow so a wizzer is out of the question and also I dont want to damage the nice bricks, also the bricks need cleaning a bit as there is some old mortar on them from touch up jobs over the years.

Firstly what should I clean them with or should I leave the cleaning and bag rub the whole brick face.

What is the best mortar to use or should I use a coloured mastic and how is best to get the old mortar out of the small joints please.

Thanks Phil

 

[jeds]

Bit difficult to say without seeing it. Brick acid should clean the bricks. A plugging chisel and hammer will clean out the joints without too much damage but is a bit labourious if you've got a lot to do. Otherwise there are some good SDS tools available if you can hire or borrow a machine.

 

[philrobinson]

here are a couple of photos of the bricks and joints

And what mortar or mastic is best

Thanks

pointing

• philrobinson
• 27 Mar 2015
• 2

pointing2

• philrobinson
• 27 Mar 2015
• 2

 

[jeds]

Are you sure that was built in 2005? Looks more like 1905. Proper gauged brickwork.

I think you will need to fettle a tool for hacking out. Maybe a glazers hacking knife with the leading edge flattened off would do it. Then you need a lime putty mix. The original one (1905) would have been quite smooth and white. You might get a suitable one from the local orange shed or you could order from a specialist such as Limestuff.co.uk Whatever you do don't use a cement mortar.

 

[philrobinson]

thank John You were right just updated the post to 1905

 

[philrobinson]

John

Would you then use boiled linseed oil over the top of all the brickwork to bring it up at the end of the process and can you get coloured lime mortar or can you add a dye to it thanks Phil

 

[tony1851]

Have you thought of using red mastic?

 

[philrobinson]

where do you get this mastic from and how does it work please

 

[philrobinson]

http://www.everbuild.co.uk/103-trowel-mastic is the type of product that you describing

or this http://www.travisperkins.co.uk/p/vallance-trowel-mastic-10kg-red/865016/3893588

 

[stuart45]

How big an area are you repointing?

 

[philrobinson]

1.5-2 m band around the base of a detached house

 

[stuart45]

You can rake out using an old hacksaw blade. I would use lime rather than mastic to repoint with.
Easier with the right jointer when doing tight joints. Was built like this with engineering bricks because with bigger joints the brickwork moves around too much as the bricks are almost non porous.