When you have cracks sitting in your brick walls, you need to repair them. This process is known as aiming. However, before attempting to repair it yourself or having repairs done by a contractor or handyman, you should be aware of the ten most common mistakes made when grouting.
The first mistake is to make the repairs before looking for additional problems. Repairing cracks in mortar and brick before checking the foundation or other problems that occur can cause further damage to your home and drywall veneer.
Settlement cracks occur due to the settlement of the foundation and the application of stress to the bricks. This makes them a common symptom of foundation repair and can help to understand where and how much movement has occurred in the foundation.
Placing mortar and replacing broken bricks along these settling cracks limits the ability to accurately repair the home’s foundation. Performing these repairs often results in damage to the brick walls when the foundation is repaired. Any mortar or brick placed in these cracks to fill the space becomes a wedge and forces the opposite crack to form in the area and the brick tends to push out at the corners of the house causing the walls to brick from cracking, leaning away from the house, or coming off the foundation completely when the house is erected.
It cannot be stressed enough to check for other issues with the home’s structure or foundation before repairing any mortar cracks.
The second most common mistake made when repairing sediment cracks in brick is choosing a foundation repair company to level the foundation. There’s a difference between leveling your home’s foundation and fixing foundation problems.
A perfectly level home foundation has never been built to my knowledge, and leveling the foundation under your home would put stresses on your home and cause more problems with your foundation. This, in turn, would create more cracks in the bricks and mortar joints around your home. When they emphasize word level and use a computerized level for their readings, it’s a strong indication that they intend to try to level your foundation even if it causes more trouble. If they focus on lifting, stabilizing, adjusting, and using the cracks in the mortar and brick to acquire their range of motion in the home’s slab, they are likely to get more precise detail about movement and have a better chance of providing an accurate picture. quality basis. repair services
The third common brick repair mistake is to use these mortar repair caulk tubes in an attempt to repair the cracks yourself. While caulk is used around doors and windows and in expansion control joints to seal the wall and allow for movement, it is not designed to be used as a mortar and can cause other damage to brick.
Caulk will never look like mortar and tends to be difficult to clean off brick faces due to its texture. The same goes for many other masonry repair products. They contain additional adhesives, epoxy and other mixtures that can be difficult to work with and remove. Often requires removal of all brick in areas where these products are used to repair brick. If you want to repair the cracks in the mortar yourself, you must use a suitable grouting mortar with the same composition as the original. These are not bulk items, they are custom made to match your mortar composition and require a mortar match analysis of your existing mortar samples.
The fourth masonry repair mistake is how to even out the mortar. This should not be confused with the color of the mortar. Mortar matching is the process of analyzing samples of the mortar to identify its composition, performance, and formula. Because the color of the sand and other materials in the composition affect color, they are related, but the base formula of a mortar composition must be matched before attempting to color match an existing mortar.
Mortar composition and formula are the guide to making a proper repair mortar and maintaining the formula. This is important because if the mortar does not match and has a different composition than the original mortar, it can have complications that make the color more difficult to match, cause damage to the bricks, prevent the new mortar from adhering to the old mortar, and could allow the wall to fall if the mortar crumbles.
The fifth most common mistake when repairing masonry is matching the color of the mortar. Most of the time, analysis of the composition of the original mortar is omitted and general assumptions are made instead. This causes difficulty in matching the color of the mortar because color is a direct result of the composition and proportion of materials in the mortar mix. To color match a mortar, you must first match the formula and composition of the existing mortar.
Once you have the base formula and composition, you can adjust the color of the mortar by adjusting the colors of the base materials and adding pigments as needed. However, a common mistake is adding pigments or other materials too quickly or changing the base of the formula. You must adhere to the base formula to maintain yield and the type of mortar being produced, and remember to add all batches slowly, as you can continue to add but cannot remove anything.
In masonry repair, the sixth common mistake is the depth of the repairs. A patch or bandage covers the top of a problem, but to repair cracks, you have to remove some of the existing mortar. It should be removed to a depth that allows a good bond of the new mortar with the old mortar and bricks. This will help ensure a long-lasting masonry repair. Generally, a good depth is about 1/2-3/4 inch at mortar joints. More is better, especially when space allows you to replace the entire mortar joint.
The seventh item where errors occur is in the preparation of the cracks for grouting. Dust and debris left in cracks prevent new mortar from adhering to old cement and prevent mortar joints from filling completely. It is important to brush off any loose debris or dust and rinse and dampen the old mortar. This will help the new mortar adhere to the existing mortar.
The eighth common mistake is when mixing the mortar. Too often water is added quickly and exceeds the amount needed and attempts are made to adjust this. The most common attempt to correct this problem is to add sand or mix to the mortar. When you do this, the composition formula changes and the resulting mortar will not meet your requirements.
If you add too much water, you should add more of all compounding materials based on the formula to adjust this without changing the ratio and type of mortar. It is best to add water or pigments slowly, as they cannot be removed, and when mistakes like this occur, it is best to discard the mortar and start over.
The ninth most common mistake made when aiming with creases is filing down the mortar joint completely. When filing the mortar joints, they may look full, but they should pack firmly into the mortar joints. Dust and debris can prevent this and should be cleaned up before installing new mortar.
When mortar joints are not completely filled, they tend to crumble when pressure is applied. This is often noticed during machining of mortar joints if the mortar has started to harden in the wall before the joints or machining is done. If this is noticeable, remove the mortar where it occurs and reposition it. Also, remember that starting to harden does not mean letting it harden before working the joints. If you apply pressure to dry, uncured mortar, the mortar will crack or crumble and need to be replaced again.
And the 10th most common mistake in brick mortar repair is brushing and scrubbing the mortar joints. As I mentioned earlier, dressing should be done when the mortar begins to harden, but before it becomes too hard for dressing. However, when working the mortar, it is important that it matches the existing type of tools. There are all different designs for the tools that shape mortar joints. The most common design is a rounded or sloped mortar joint. You will want to use a joining tool that will produce the correct design and size of the mortar joint. These tools come in wider angles for thicker mortar joints.
This is important so that the repairs blend in with the wall. Using a mismatched jointer will cause the mortar to cast a shadow at the intersections of the new and old mortar. This also occurs with mortar tags or excess mortar that is pressed in with screed tools. You need to brush off the excess and blend the edges of each and every mortar joint in order for the repairs to match up properly.
As you can see, masonry repair is a very detailed process where a slight variation of any detail significantly changes the outcome of the repairs.