Brick Pointing in Bellaire, Queens

Do Bellaire Homes Need Brick Pointing?

Some do. Bellaire is mostly detached homes, and not every one is brick, but many have brick fronts, brick chimneys, entry steps with brick side walls or low brick walls at the yard. Wherever the mortar has crumbled or cracked, pointing stops water from getting into the wall.

Brick pointing here is a smaller job than on a tall apartment building. You will rarely need scaffolding for a two story house. That keeps the work simpler, and it usually means only the affected walls or joints need attention.

The clearest warning sign is mortar that you can scratch out with a key. Other signs include gaps between bricks, white powder on the surface and a brick that turns when you push it.

Tree shade and leaf litter keep a wall damp on many Bellaire lots, and a damp wall is a wall that freezes and thaws more often. Joints on the north side of a house or behind a shrub tend to go first, so check those before you check the sunny side.

Waiting is the costly choice. Once water gets behind the brick, it can rust ties, stain interior plaster and loosen whole sections. Repointing at the joint stage keeps the wall intact.

How Is Brick Pointing Done Properly?

The old mortar is ground or chiseled out to a sound depth, the joints are cleaned and dampened, and new mortar is packed in and tooled to match. Skipping the depth or using the wrong mix causes the new joints to fail. Mortar strength should suit the brick, not exceed it.

Matching matters for looks as well. We compare color and joint style on the wall and talk through the options before the work starts. On a house that has been repointed before, we check whether the earlier repair is worth keeping.

Pointing is not a fix for a bulging wall or a chimney that leans. Those need masonry repair, and we say so at the visit. Our masonry work in Bellaire covers rebuilding sections and other structural repair.