Brickwork Repointing Leeds | Mortar Repair

THE SERVICE

What repointing actually involves

Repointing is the job of raking out old, failed mortar from between the bricks and replacing it with fresh mortar mixed to suit the wall. It sounds simple and in the right hands it is, but it is also a job that gets rushed or done with the wrong mix more often than any other on a house. Mortar is not brick. It is meant to be the weaker material, so that it wears rather than the brick, and so it can move slightly with the building rather than crack it. When mortar is mixed too strong, too hard, or with the wrong sand, it does the opposite job to the one it is there for.

This work is for anyone with a house, terrace, semi or bungalow where the mortar joints are cracked, crumbling, soft to the thumb, or missing altogether in places. It is common on older Yorkshire stone and brick property where the original lime mortar has been over the years hacked out and replaced with a hard cement mix that does not suit the building. It is just as relevant on 1930s brick semis where decades of weather have simply worn the joints thin. If you can push a key into the mortar and it comes away easily, or you can see gaps where the joint should be, it needs looking at.

The trigger for most calls is damp inside on an outside wall, a chimney breast staining, or simply noticing on a ladder or from next door's garden that the joints look grey, crumbly and open. Left long enough, open joints let rain track behind the brick face, freeze in cold snaps, and start to spall the brick itself, which is a far bigger and more expensive job to put right than the pointing ever was. Repointing early is cheaper than replacing brick later.

Doing it properly means matching the mortar to the wall, not just to what is in the merchant's yard. That means the right mix, the right sand colour, and a joint profile that matches what is already there, whether that is a bucket-handle, flush, or weathered joint. It also means proper preparation, raking joints out to a consistent depth rather than skimming a thin smear over the top of what is already failing, which never lasts and always looks wrong close up.

Raking and preparation

Old, loose or hollow mortar raked out by hand or with a grinder to a consistent depth, dust and debris cleared from the joint before anything new goes in.

Mix matched to the wall

Mortar mixed to suit the brick or stone, not a generic strong cement mix that will crack softer old brickwork or trap damp behind it.

Joint profile matched

New joints finished to match the existing profile across the wall so the repointed sections blend rather than stand out as patches.

Whole elevations, not just the odd brick

Failed joints are rarely isolated to one spot. We work across full elevations or the property as a whole so the repair is consistent and lasts evenly.

LEAVE IT AND IT GETS WORSE

Why blown joints do not stay a small job

Mortar joints fail gradually, which is exactly why they get ignored. A crack here, a soft patch there, nothing dramatic enough to force the issue until a wet winter shows up damp on the inside of a bedroom wall or around a chimney breast. By that point the water has usually been finding its way in for a couple of seasons already, and the fix is bigger than it would have been if it had been caught early.

The real risk with open or failed mortar is not the mortar itself, it is what happens to the brick or stone behind it once water gets a route in. Rainwater tracks through open joints, sits against the brick face, and in a Pennine winter it freezes. That freeze-thaw cycle is what actually breaks brick faces apart, a problem called spalling, and once a brick has spalled it usually needs replacing rather than repointing. What would have been a mortar job becomes a brick and mortar job.

The other common mistake is a repair that makes things worse rather than better. A hard cement-rich mortar slapped onto an old, softer brick or stone wall does not flex with the building the way the original lime-based mortar did. Instead it forces any movement and any moisture to find another way out, often through the face of the brick itself, which then spalls from the inside. It looks like a repair on the day it is done and causes damage for years after.

Water tracking into cavities

Open joints give rain a direct route behind the brick face and into wall cavities or the internal leaf, showing up as damp patches indoors.

Frost damage to brick and stone

Water sitting in open joints freezes in cold weather and expands, cracking the face off bricks and stone that would otherwise have lasted generations.

Wrong mortar mix forcing failure elsewhere

A mortar harder than the masonry it is holding together does not fail itself, it pushes the damage into the brick or stone face instead.

Mistakes we get called out to fix

Smearing new mortar over the top of old failed joints instead of raking out to a proper depth first.
Using a strong, modern cement mix on older lime-mortared brick or stone without checking what the wall needs.
Matching colour but not joint profile, leaving patched sections that catch water differently to the rest of the wall.
Repointing one visible patch and leaving the rest of the elevation to fail on the same timescale.
Ignoring pointing around chimney stacks and abutments, which take the worst of the weather and fail first.
Leaving it until brick or stone has already spalled, turning a mortar job into a masonry replacement job.

HOW THE JOB RUNS

How we handle a repointing job

Every job starts with us actually looking at the wall, not quoting from a photo.

STEP 01
Free site visit

We come out, look at the extent of the failed pointing across the property, and check for any brick or stone damage behind it before pricing anything.
STEP 02
Mortar match assessment

We check the existing mortar, brick or stone type, and joint profile so the new mix and finish will actually suit the building rather than fight it.
STEP 03
Raking out

Failed joints are raked out to a consistent depth by hand or grinder, with care taken around window reveals, cills and features that are easily damaged.
STEP 04
Repointing

Mortar mixed to suit the wall is packed into the joints and finished to match the existing profile, worked across the agreed elevations for a consistent result.
STEP 05
Clean down and sign-off

Debris and mortar smears cleared from brick faces and cills, and we walk the finished work with you. Note that repointing and repair work like this sits outside the 10-year guarantee we offer on new roofing works, though we stand by the standard of the job.

WHAT YOU GET

What a proper repoint gets you

Keeps water out where it matters

Sound joints are the first line of defence against water getting into the wall structure, before it ever becomes a damp problem inside.

Protects the brick or stone itself

Correctly matched mortar takes the wear so the masonry doesn't, avoiding costly brick or stone replacement down the line.

Stops small problems becoming big ones

Catching failed joints early avoids frost damage and spalling that turn a mortar job into a full masonry repair.

Looks right, not just patched

Matching mix, colour and joint profile means repointed sections blend into the wall rather than standing out.

One visit for the whole elevation

We work across full walls or the whole property rather than chasing individual bricks, so the result is consistent.

Priced after we've actually seen it

A free site visit means the price reflects the real extent of the work, not a guess from a description over the phone.

THE DETAIL

Repointing in detail

Repointing looks the same from the pavement whichever way it is done. The difference is in the mix, the depth, and the detailing, and that is where a job either lasts or fails again in five years.

Lime mortar vs cement mortar

Much of the older stone and brick housing stock across Leeds, Huddersfield, Halifax and Bradford was originally built with lime mortar, a softer, more breathable mix than the cement mortars that became standard through the twentieth century. Lime mortar flexes slightly with the building and lets moisture evaporate out through the joint rather than trapping it in the wall.

The common mistake, often from previous repairs rather than the original build, is repointing older property with a hard, cement-rich mix because it is quicker to work and easier to buy off the shelf. On softer stone or handmade brick this traps moisture and pushes damage into the masonry itself. Getting the mix right for the wall in front of us, not a generic mix, is the difference between a repair that lasts and one that causes a bigger problem in a few years.

Back-to-back terraces and exposed elevations

Back-to-back and through terraces common across Leeds and Bradford often have one elevation that takes far more weather than the others, usually the gable end or the side facing the prevailing wind and rain. That elevation will typically fail years before the rest of the property, and it is common to find a house with sound pointing on three sides and a badly blown gable.

We look at the whole property on the site visit rather than just the wall someone happened to notice, because an exposed gable in poor condition is often a sign the rest of the house will need the same attention within a few years, even if it looks fine today.

Chimney stacks and abutments

Chimney stacks stand proud of the roofline and take the worst of the wind and rain from every direction, which means the pointing on a stack fails long before the pointing on the main walls below it. It is one of the most common places we find blown joints on a survey of an otherwise sound property.

Repointing a stack properly means working safely from scaffold or a tower rather than a ladder, raking joints out on all four faces, and paying particular attention to the joint where the stack meets the roof, which is a common route for water into the loft if it is neglected.

All four faces of the stack checked, not just the visible side from the ground.
Joint at roof abutment checked alongside the flashing, since failures here often get blamed on the roof rather than the stack.
Coping stones or capping checked for movement while the scaffold is up, since these sit directly above the joints doing the most damage if loose.

Colour and sand matching

Mortar colour comes from the sand used in the mix, not from a dye, and sand colour varies noticeably between quarries and even between deliveries. A repoint using the wrong sand can look fine on the day but stand out badly once it weathers differently to the surrounding original mortar over the following year.

We match sand and mix as closely as practically possible to the existing mortar so repointed sections age in line with the rest of the wall rather than remaining a visible patch for years afterwards.

When repointing isn't enough

Sometimes what looks like a pointing job on the phone turns out, once we are on site, to include spalled brick faces, cracked lintels, or movement in the wall itself. Repointing over these problems hides them temporarily rather than solving them.

Where we find this we will say so plainly on the site visit and price the brick or stone replacement alongside the pointing, or flag structural movement for further investigation rather than pointing over a crack and hoping it does not reopen.

QUESTIONS WE GET ASKED

General Brickwork Repointing: your questions answered

How much does repointing cost?

There is no fixed price because every wall and every extent of failed pointing is different. We give a free site visit and price the actual job once we have seen it.

How long does repointing take?

A single elevation might take a day or two, a whole property considerably longer. We will give you a realistic timescale once we have assessed the extent of the work on site.

Is repointing covered by your 10-year guarantee?

No. Our 10-year guarantee applies to new roofing works, new pitched and flat roofs. Repointing and general repair work sit outside that guarantee, though we stand by the standard of every job we do.

Do you match the existing mortar colour?

Yes, we match sand and mix as closely as we practically can so repointed sections blend with the rest of the wall rather than standing out as a patch.

Can you repoint just one wall or does it need to be the whole house?

We can work on a single elevation if that is all that has failed, though on the site visit we will tell you honestly if we think other walls are close behind.

Do you use lime mortar on older property?

We mix mortar to suit the wall in front of us, including lime-based mixes for older stone and softer brick where a hard cement mix would cause more harm than good.

What if you find damaged brick or stone under the old mortar?

We will point it out and price it separately rather than repointing over a problem that needs proper attention.

Do you work on chimney stacks as well as walls?

Yes, stack repointing is one of the most common jobs we do, since stacks take the worst of the weather and fail before the rest of the property.

Do you cover Huddersfield, Halifax, Bradford and Wakefield as well as Leeds?

Yes, we work across Leeds, Huddersfield, Halifax, Bradford, Wakefield, Harrogate, Wetherby, Selby and Doncaster.

Can you help if I've got damp inside and think it's the pointing?

Yes, call us and we will come and have a proper look. If it turns out to be something beyond pointing, such as a broader damp issue, we will tell you plainly.

Get your walls looked at properly

Call 07412 809533 or email peak.performance32@gmail.com for a free site visit, no obligation and no fixed price until we've seen the job.

Call 07412 809533

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General Brickwork RepointingAcross Leeds, Huddersfield & Bradford