Avoid costly damage to brick or stone structures by repointing loose, cracked or crumbling mortar. Step 1: Use a cold chisel and a hammer to clean out the mortar joint to be repaired. Place the chisel ...

Brick houses are hard to damage. Anyone familiar with The Three Little Pigs knows that. Inevitably, however, there comes a time when the mortar between bricks begins to degrade. The process of repair, ...

I’ve seen a lot of posts from people asking for repointing recommendations, but my question is how do you know when you really need to repoint your bricks? (And I suppose I have the same question for ...

Tuckpointing—not repointing—brick can increase its lifespan while improving its appearance. How to tell if your home needs it.

Q. My brick front steps are 50 to 60 years old but are in fairly good shape. I recently found several beige-colored spots about the size of a quarter on the treads. Someone tried wetting them with ...

We've all seen it: The brick or stone wall where the mortar is all powdery, cracked or non-existent. "Mortar can disintegrate over time because of weather as a result of the freeze-thaw cycles. The ...

Last week, I fielded no fewer than five phone calls from homeowners with the same grim news. They found it nearly impossible to get quotes from contractors to do fairly simple repairs. Each caller’s ...