Repointing

[The Medway Handyman]

There seems to be three options for removing mortar prior to repointing;

1] TCT rake in angle grinder.

2] TCT disc in angle grinder

3] SDS mortar rake.

Any experience as to which is best?

[George]

Hmmm! you should have bought the aldi compressor and its nifty handheld gun with a coal chisel,the bloke in the next street was doing the same thing with this gear and making short work of it too.

They gear you're sumising has got to be a pig of a job in terms of weight...thats if you are doing a fair amount?

[Andy Burns]

Ahem!

[Andrew Gabriel]

I'd have to start by asking why you are considering repointing mortar which needs any power tools to get it out? If it doesn't come out with a joint raker

it probably doesn't need repointing (unless you are repairing someone else's screwed up repointing, e.g. having used much too strong a mortar mix or even 100% cement, which I've come across;-)

[Andy Burns]

To bed-in lead flashing?

[Andrew Mawson]

message

repointing;

handheld gun

COLD chisel - so named as it is hardened and suitable for cutting steel when cold, as opposed to needing the steel heated red hot (and thus soft)

I don't think even Arthur Scargill used a COAL chisel

AWEM

[Andrew Mawson]

repointing;

Dave,

I've used, and been very impressed with, the Screwfix SDS mortar rake. I was letting in some flashing in an awkward tight valley situation when I built my attached garage, so it was only used for perhaps 25 foot rather than (say) doing the whole flank wall of a house.

AWEM

[Cicero]

=================================== He might very well have done so, although not in his professional capacity.

In the 'good old days' when we used open fires coal was delivered in sacks often containing quite large lumps. The contents of the sacks were dumped in coal cellars / coal holes and the householder then had to break up the larger lumps to carry indoors in a coal scuttle. This required the use of various tools including a coal hammer and a 'coal chisel'. The fact that a 'cold' chisel was available probably explains the confusion of 'cold' and 'coal'. Many people also had a firewood chopper (an axe of some kind) for use when bundled firewood or firelighters weren't available.

Cic.

[The Medway Handyman]

Good thinking that. It is crumbly already.

What's about right then? 5-1?

[George]

[Andrew Gabriel]

Buy a packet of suitable sized masonary nails to use in the tool too. Don't rake out too deep -- you are just replacing the outer weatherproofing layer, not replacing the mortar between the bricks.

Depends how hard the bricks are and if the mortar is cement or lime based. The mortar must be softer than the bricks. The repointing I've done has all been on a lime mortar house with medium hardness bricks. I have used 1:1:6 mix (cement, lime, sand) and this has worked very well -- the oldest repointing now being over 20 years old, and still in perfect condition.

[meow2222]

1:1:6 is good for 20th century bricks, 2:1 to 3:1 (lime) is better for Victorian brickwork.

Angle grinder is fast & clean, but its very easy to damage bricks with it, real care is neeed all the time.

But like 'e said, if its sound its better left.

NT