Mortar Pointing

What is mortar pointing?

Mortar pointing is the process of renewing the mortar joints in brickwork, primarily (but not limited to) external walls on buildings.

Re-pointing of mortar joints is a necessary maintenance item due to the fretting of mortar from various factors including:

Weather
Age of the mortar
The style of the mortar joint
Whether it is a cement or lime based mortar

Fretting of mortar is a common problem for brick buildings, not only does it effect the visual appearance of your building, it can compromise the structure and allow for other issues such as rising damp through where the mortar existed or cracking.

Can we match the existing colour?

Colour matching the existing mortar is an important part of the re-pointing process.

We aim to achieve the closest possible colour of the mortar, whether that be anything from clean white to cream or grey.

On discoloured mortar (whether it be from bore water or age), there are many options available to be pursued for the best finish possible.

Can we match the mortar style?

There are many mortar styles used in Western Australia, with the traditional mortar style being the ‘cut and struck’ joint, also known as ‘weathered’.

However, the common style trend has now moved to the ‘concave’ or ‘rolled’ in modern construction as it can be a stronger joint, along with the added benefit of not allowing moisture sit on the brickwork and being less labour intensive to achieve.

Older joints constructed from lime for example have the tendency to fret from not having a finished edge, whereas joints finished with a finished edge have better protection and will generally last longer.

We have encountered many different types of mortar joint styles and work closely with our team to achieve the best result for our clients and meets their satisfactions.

Cement or lime mortar?

In buildings constructed originally with lime mortar, we prefer to replace the lime with new, naturally hydrated lime mortar.

Lime mortar has been phased out in favour of cement mortar since it’s introduction due to cement becoming more readily available in multiple forms, being more cost effective and providing a harder finish than the traditionally softer lime.

We use naturally hydrated lime mortar to re-point original lime joints to achieve the correct look of traditional lime mortar while being stronger than the original. Lime mortar also has the added benefit of being more flexible with weather condition changes and tends to crack less in response to those changes.

Buildings listed with the Heritage Council of WA are required to reinstate the original mortar type to maintain the heritage elements of the building.

Cement mortars have the benefit of a harder finish, extra durability compared to lime while setting faster.

During our re-pointing process, we can add oxides to the mortar mix to match an existing mortar colour.