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Mortar caulk?

Posted by alison (My Page) on
Wed, May 5, 10 at 14:01

There are a couple of spots in my 110 year old (new to me!) brick house, where the mortar has come out. Just isolared lines, not like a whole patch. This is the worst spot I can find:

The home inspector told me this was an easy spot-fix, not a building wide problem, and recommended I get some "mortar caulk". But I can't seem to find that at the hardware store.

Does it have another name? And, any tips on using it?

Thanks!


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: Mortar caulk?

Google mortar repair caulk.

It should only be used to fill non-structural joints less than 3/8” deep. For the condition in the photo you need to use real mortar. If you don't know how to point, brick hire a mason.

Here is a link that might be useful: mortar repair caulk


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RE: Mortar caulk?

I have done tuck pointing, years ago as part of a crew.

Do you think I need to hire a mason to fill 10-12 lines scattered around the entire building?


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RE: Mortar caulk?

If you can tuckpoint, repointing should be easy.

Here is a link that might be useful: repointing info


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RE: Mortar caulk?

Thanks for the link! I was hoping it wwould be as simple as squirting a tube of goo at the problem, but that rarely really works, does it?


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RE: Mortar caulk?

Get a mortar bag to shoot the joint full, and use real mortar.

Cleaning out the joints is what takes most of the labor.

The actual filling takes barely minutes.

Be sure to wet down the bricks after cleaning before putting in new mortar.
Dry bricks can suck the moisture out of the new mortar so fast it will not cure, but revert back to grainy powder.

Even Home Depot has the mortar 'pastry' bags.


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RE: Mortar caulk?

I was visualizing a pastry bag filled with mortar!

good luck op..good thing you have some experience.


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RE: Mortar caulk?

"I was visualizing a pastry bag filled with mortar! "

Same thing, just larger and heavier duty.


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