Whether you’re dealing with brickwork or stonework, your structure relies on mortar to maintain its integrity and present a beautiful appearance. While masonry is exceptionally durable, it still requires maintenance to remain strong and look its best. Masonry repointing can revitalize your structure.
What Is Masonry Repointing?
Masonry repointing is the process of restoring the mortar joints found in brickwork and stonework. Your masonry has to stand up to changing temperatures, moisture, weather, and more. Over the course of decades, the mortar in your building’s exterior surface, garden walls, property walls, and other structures will gradually deteriorate.
This can leave your walls with noticeably sunken gaps around individual bricks and stones, affecting the appearance and integrity of the structure. Masonry repointing repairs this issue and returns your masonry to its former beauty.
When you reach out to professional masonry repair, they will remove deteriorated mortar and replace it. This process helps restore the appearance and function of brickwork and stonework, protecting it against further damage.
Why You Should Always Go with the Professionals
Repointing isn’t something that needs to be done very often. Masonry is built to last, and even the weakest mortar section stands up to tough conditions for decades. When the time does come that your brickwork or stonework needs repointing, you can save yourself money, time, and trouble by leaving it to the professionals.
Proper masonry repointing must be carefully planned to deliver the best results. Chances are that any masonry that requires repointing is 50 or more years old, so finding the original brand and style of mortar is impossible. Instead, you need seasoned experts to find the shade and texture that suit your structure’s style.
Material selection is challenging enough, but that’s just the start. The process of repointing takes experience, skill, and the right tools for the job. Professionals are able to work without causing further damage to your structure, removing the appropriate amount of deteriorated mortar and applying new mortar in its place.
You also want your masonry repointing to last. A poorly applied repair can allow for increased moisture infiltration. Not only will this cause the mortar to degrade more quickly, but it can also affect the rest of the structure. Choosing professionals to handle your masonry repointing ensures the best results in terms of appearance and integrity.
Revitalizing Your Structure’s Appearance
As mortar starts to deteriorate and fall away, it impacts the appearance of your walls. It’s the most distinct sign of dilapidated and unmaintained brickwork or stonework, with the familiar gaps between bricks being commonplace among uncared-for structures.
Masonry repointing can make your brickwork or stonework look beautiful while maintaining a seasoned, antique appearance. Repointing ensures that there is a distinct, sharp outline along bricks and stones. This provides a much cleaner appearance that indicates a structure that has been well cared for.
Improving the appearance of your structure can also greatly improve your property value. Repairs and refurbishments to home exteriors are often among the most effective investments you can make in your property, and masonry repointing is highly cost-effective for the boost it gives your home or business.
Protecting Your Structure from Moisture
One of the most important roles of mortar is protecting your structure from moisture. Rain, snow, and even moisture in the air on humid days all pose a risk to brickwork and stonework. This is particularly true in any region that sees freezing temperatures, as the water can expand as it freezes and cause cracks and other damage within the masonry.
As mortar deteriorates, it provides less protection against moisture. Rain and snow can reach in between bricks, allowing for water to stand on surfaces and soak in more effectively. You can find yourself with various issues, including mold growth on and behind your walls.
With restored mortar, your structure presents an intact surface that moisture can’t penetrate effectively. Any rain will run down the wall instead of penetrating nooks and crannies, letting you avoid a wide range of issues.
Saving on Repairs in the Long Run
Like with most other aspects of your home, the most cost-effective approach to masonry is to pay for maintenance today instead of repairs tomorrow. Masonry repointing is much more affordable than more intensive repairs or even a replacement structure that you might need down the road.
You risk long-term damage if you allow your structure to stand with deteriorated mortar. Moisture infiltration, uneven weight distribution, and other factors can eventually leave you with a wall that is beyond repair or in need of much more expensive repairs. By choosing masonry repointing today, you’re protecting your structure in the long run.
Ensuring Structural Integrity
As mortar deteriorates, it has an immediate impact on the aesthetics of your structure. However, that’s far from being the only issue that you should worry about. Mortar is an indispensable part of your masonry’s structure, and masonry repointing helps maintain integrity.
When mortar deteriorates and wears away, it does so from the outside in. This means that your entire structure will have less mortar on the exterior side and more on the interior. This imbalance can cause serious structural issues because it affects the weight distribution of your wall.
As that imbalance causes your wall to shift even slightly, it can start to develop cracks. They’ll start small at first but will grow over time. Eventually, they could become too large to repair, which means that your wall will have to be taken down and replaced.
Having masonry repointing done before cracks start to develop can prevent that outcome.
Find the Experts to Handle Your Masonry Repointing
You need to know that your brickwork and stonework maintenance is in good hands. That’s why you can put your trust in the team at McNamara Masonry Restoration. We have the expertise to match materials carefully and carry out repairs for beautiful, lasting results. Contact us today to restore your masonry in the Delaware Valley.
