To Grind or Not --Repointing Advice

Thanks everyone! Machine grinding it is, while making sure the contractor works on old houses.

pitythefool

in General Discussion 2 years and 5 months ago

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pitythefool | 2 years and 5 months ago

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Hey Brownstoners. We need to repoint our back wall and got an estimate for machine grinding. Is that the way that most high quality contractors do it or is the better choice to do it manually? The machine grinding seems much more affordable, which of course makes it pretty attractive. Thanks!

justinromeu26 | 2 years and 5 months ago

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When we did ours they power washed the front and took out what would come out and went over what remained in a fashion that was no longer struck or concave but almost flush and flat. It is also not the way it should be done. But 16 years on, it seems to be holding and i have no evidence that moisture has gotten into the joints.

When this gets done by professionals, they use grinders with tuck pointing wheels. Wide wheels made for this purpose and i think bosch or another german company makes grinders for this purpose. If i had to do my house over, they would be grinding it out.

annep | 2 years and 5 months ago

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We had a high end contractor grind and repoint our back brick wall & they used a grinder. I would make sure they use the right type of lime mortar (instead of portland cement) for your brick.

Guest User | 2 years and 5 months ago

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machine grinding, when done expertly, should be just fine. some can get a little over excited by the machine and move quickly, notching the actual bricks. ask them what type of mortar they’re planning to use and why. lime mortar is not necessarily the way to go depending on the age of the brick, but asking the question is a good way to gauge how much experience the contractor has.

Guest User | 2 years and 5 months ago

string(1) "3"
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machine grinding, when done expertly, should be just fine. some can get a little over excited by the machine and move quickly, notching the actual bricks. ask them what type of mortar they’re planning to use and why. lime mortar is not necessarily the way to go depending on the age of the brick, but asking the question is a good way to gauge how much experience the contractor has.

justinromeu26 | 2 years and 5 months ago

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what maggie is saying you need people who work on the older houses and understand what your house might mean to you. people who do not work on them, might not understand.

this is a real life example: in 1984 i did some “restoration” work on an 1870’s brick wall on Long Island. i went to the mason’s yard and asked questions and bought whatever modern product they sold me. i took whatever bricks apart and noted that they seemed to come apart as if the old mortar had never really held them together, as though it had remained moist and soft. this was the old lime mortar. i did not learn about what this was until i took a building restoration class here in NYC and read about this on this board. (after reading about this on here and about four years ago, i went back and checked my work is ok but i would not do that again).

by the time they were building these 1920’s queens houses were i lived, they were using modern product.

our understanding is, from people on this board, that using the modern product can stress and damage the softer bricks.

when you get a real good restoration contractor they will be able to discuss the various product and processes and tell you what to use and why. if you begin poking around with questions about the different mortars and old bricks and they look at you funny, you have the wrong people.

annep | 2 years and 5 months ago

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Limeworks is a great resource if you have any questions — you can also send them a sample of the current mortar in place for them to analyze and suggest matches for. https://www.limeworks.us/mortar-analysis/#observation