CHIMNEY TUCKPOINTING

When To Tuckpoint Your Chimney

Bricks have a lifespan of about 100 years, but the mortar that holds them together usually lasts about 25 years. When damage occurs, tuckpointing is a cost-effective mortar repair method that involves replacing old, broken mortar with new mortar.

Tuckpointing uses the following steps:

• Grinding and removing old mortar to a uniform depth.
• Filling the new grooves with fresh red mortar.
• Cutting new grooves in the red mortar.
• Filling these grooves with mortar that matches the brick structure’s existing design.

When Is Tuckpointing Necessary?

Lusitania’s masonry experts recommend tuckpointing brick when there are signs of crumbling in the masonry joints (that are not the result of foundation problem such as shifting). Crumbling mortar can result from water seeping into brickwork, causing it to expand, peel and crack under pressure.

Benefits Of Tuckpointing 

Tuckpointing stops mortar corrosion in its tracks and improves structural stability. Tuckpointing helps prevent more water from entering the brick structure and extends its life. Tuckpointing’s cost is also fairly low compared to other masonry repairs, so it saves money by preventing more significant repairs down the road. Tuckpointing improves the structure’s aesthetic appeal by restoring it to its original condition.

When the mortar starts to deteriorate on a chimney you essentially have two choices. You can either ignore it and wait for bricks to loosen and the chimney itself to become unstable, or you can call on us to tuckpoint it. Tuckpointing is actually a term for two different things. In some places it means using two colors of mortar with one matching the brick to leave the impression that the joints are very fine. Our masons can do that, but with certain chimneys the type of tuckpointing normally done is more of a  structural one.

Tuckpointing and repointing chimneys means replacing failing mortar by chiseling it out to a set depth. The new mortar is then filled in and may be color matched to the  old mortar so that the repair blends in perfectly with the rest of the chimney.

Call our masons at 631-520-8356 and we’ll help you with your chimney problems!