How Can Tuck Pointing Add Value To Your Home?
Written by: Quintin Bentley Crevling
There are few structures more aesthetically pleasing than brick buildings. Brick can add rich textures to a home and give it a unique identity. The masonry of brick homes will only require repairs every 10-20 years, which makes it incredibly economical on your wallet. Homeowners can decide to perform maintenance as they see fit. Tuckpointing is an extremely common form of maintenance where a mason will use two contrasting colors of mortar in the joints of brickwork to give the appearance of perfectly laid bricks. If you’re interested in tuckpointing, you should understand how to do it, tips for applying the mortar, and how much value it adds to your home.
If you are interested in tuck pointing your home, contact repoint.com.au to be connected with a talented mason.
Tuckpointing is a tedious process of applying mortar to brick and then scraping off excess mortar that spills out of the joints. Before you start tuck pointing, you should use a hammer and chisel to chip away cracked or loose mortar on the area you will be working.
This gives you a fresh surface to work with and you will not have to interrupt your work to remove damaged mortar. A mason will use a tuck pointer tool that is a small trowel designed to fit between the joints of bricks to fill in the mortar. Your first layer of mortar will be the same color as your brick. Once the first layer is finished, the mason will carefully apply a contrasting color of mortar to give the appearance that the bricks are perfectly spaced apart.
This is a tedious task that can take multiple hours to finish even a small area. Since this process takes so long it can be extremely helpful to know shortcuts and tips to do the job correctly the first time. A common problem associated with tuck pointing is cracking in the mortar once it has dried. This can happen when the older mortar currently on the wall absorbs the moisture in the newly applied mortar. To combat this problem you should spray down the surface before applying the water. This not only provides enough water for the mortar, but also washes away dust and debris that could affect the final product.
Anything you do to improve the aesthetic appeal of your home will greatly increase its value. If you properly tuckpoint your home, it will have a fresh look that is better than new. In addition to improving the curb appeal of your home, it also weatherproofs and improves the structural integrity of your home.
Brick is made to expand and contract in the elements and this can create cracks and broken mortar. Tuckpointing adds another protective layer to keep water from getting into small cracks and wreak havoc. Since this work can take many hours to complete it can cost a pretty penny, but the value that it adds to your home it far greater than the cost associated with the project.
