Highlighting Your Home’s Foundations: Brickwork Repointing

Brickwork is a unique aesthetic addition to your home, making it a fan favourite for homeowners with rustic styles. The columns and rows of brick upon brick create an organized, yet unique formation that highlights your home’s aesthetics. However, its visual appeal isn’t free from sustaining damage over time. Sometimes, small cracks and stains can be a symptom of a greater issue requiring immediate attention and repairs.

Assessing your brickwork for signs of damage

Remember that your brickwork’s signs of damage can lead to aesthetic and functional damage to your home. White deposits—known as efflorescence—can appear on your bricks to signify a build-up of water and salts coming to the surface. Although it generally doesn’t damage your brick’s foundations, it can still lead to an unsightly look that demands replacement. Remember to use light cleaning agents that won’t damage your bricks. Some chemical cleaners can also lead to stains or spread efflorescence if you don’t test it out properly.

Besides this surface-level deterioration, you should also be mindful of cracks on your brickwork’s joints and grout. Since they’re less noticeable than white stains, they’re harder to detect but are more deadly than you might think. Their presence can allow moisture penetration that can compromise the structural integrity of your walls and pillars. This can lead to damaged bricks needing repairs or replacements before affecting your entire wall or column.

Repairing your brickwork through repointing

Repointing is a repair treatment that specifically remedies crumbling and cracked grout in your brickwork. It’s a form of routine maintenance that homeowners need to perform regularly to maintain their brickwork’s look. Repointing removes any old mortar and replaces it with a new batch to preserve your brick structures from damage.

Like patching paintwork on walls, it’s important to match the existing mortar colour with the appropriate shade during restoration. Otherwise, your brickwork’s repairs will stand out in contrast to its other parts. No ordinary building contractor can handle the job’s delicacy and precision; it requires a trained masonry professional to avoid any misplacement or misalignment issues. This is because the improper application of repointing can lead to more significant issues beyond simple visual problems.

 Confirming your need for repointing

It’s important to properly assess your brickwork’s damage before you settle on the appropriate response. Sometimes, repointing isn’t the best solution to your problem, especially if you have an issue with its foundation. For example, cracks running up the wall often indicate an issue that goes beyond general wear and tear. Simply repairing it through repointing the joints is not always the long-term solution you need. 

Another potential major issue is water exposure. If your brickwork’s cracks allow water to seep into it, you must first remedy the water damage before sealing it from the outside. Doing so will prevent your brickwork from deteriorating internally even if it appears fixed on the surface. It’s best to consult with a masonry expert if repointing is the optimal solution.

Conclusion

Every construction material in your home needs to undergo particular care and maintenance to ensure that they’re in good condition. For example, wood structures need to get a replacement sealant treatment to prevent wood rot and deterioration from water seepage. Another potential issue is maintaining metal structures from oxidation and rust, especially if they’re outdoors. It’s your task as a homeowner to understand your home’s needs, depending on the material they’re made of.

At Red Robin Masonry we understand the complex needs of your brickwork’s maintenance. It’s our goal to give our clients the appropriate solutions with our experience and expertise in the trade. If you need brick repair services in Ontario, contact us today at 416-206-8859!