Brickwork & Repointing in Eastbourne

What repointing is, and when a wall needs it

Repointing means raking out failed mortar from between the bricks and replacing it with fresh mortar. The pointing is the sacrificial part of a wall: it is meant to wear and be renewed, so that the bricks themselves do not. When it fails, water gets into the joints and then into the wall.

A wall needs repointing when mortar is crumbling or can be raked out with a finger, when joints are visibly recessed, hollow or cracked, when mortar is falling out at the base of the wall, or when there is damp inside on an elevation that takes the weather.

The critical decision is the mortar mix. Using a hard cement mortar on an old soft brick wall does real damage, because the mortar becomes stronger than the brick and forces moisture and salts to escape through the brick face instead. That is what causes bricks to spall and crumble.

We match the mortar to the wall, which on most period property around here means lime rather than cement.

Why hard mortar damages old walls

Older bricks are softer and more porous than modern ones, and they were laid in lime mortar that is softer still. Moisture moves through the joints and evaporates from them, and the joints take up any small movement in the wall.

Cement mortar reverses that. It is harder than the brick and much less permeable, so water that gets into the wall can only leave through the brick face. In winter it freezes there, and the face of the brick blows off. Movement then cracks the bricks rather than the joints.

You can see the result on a lot of houses around here: a wall repointed in cement thirty years ago with crisp joints and spalled, crumbling brick faces between them, and often damp inside as well.

Once bricks have spalled the damage is permanent, so it is worth getting the mix right the first time rather than saving a little on the mortar.

How we repoint

Our bricklayers look at the brick and the existing mortar first and match the new mix to them, using lime mortar on solid walled and period property and a suitable cement based mix on modern brickwork. Where we can, we match the colour and the sand as well as the strength.

Joints are raked out to a sufficient depth, back to sound mortar, and cleaned before the new mortar goes in. Grinding out with a disc is quick and it damages brick edges, so we cut out by hand where the brick needs that care.

Our bricklayers finish the joint to match what is there, flush, bucket handle or weather struck, and we protect fresh lime work from sun, rain and frost while it cures.

We also deal with what caused the failure, such as a leaking gutter or a cracked sill, because otherwise the new pointing gets the same treatment as the old.

Repointing

Whole elevations and localised areas in lime and cement based mortars matched to the wall for strength, colour and joint profile, raked out by hand where the brick edges need that care.

Brick replacement

Cutting out and replacing spalled, cracked and frost damaged bricks with matching reclaimed or new stock, sized to match Victorian brickwork rather than modern dimensions.

Crack repair and movement

Stitching and rebuilding cracked masonry, resin ties, and rebuilding bulged sections, tying in with our structural works where the movement is structural.

New masonry

Garden, boundary and retaining walls, piers, gate posts and rebuilt parapets, plus forming and bricking up openings with new lintels and arches matched in afterwards.

Flint and stone

Repairs and repointing to flint and stone walls common in East Sussex villages, where the mortar does the structural work and has to be packed correctly around the stones.

Chimneys and wall ties

Repointing, rebuilding and flaunching stacks alongside our roofing work, and corroded tie failure dealt with through cavity wall tie replacement.

Checking your own pointing

A few minutes with a key or a screwdriver tells you most of what you need to know, and it stops you paying to repoint a wall that does not need it.

Scrape a joint. If mortar comes away easily as sand or crumbs, the pointing has failed. If it resists a firm scrape, it is still doing its job.
Look at the depth. Joints noticeably recessed behind the brick face, or with visible gaps and cracks, are letting water in.
Check the base of the wall. Sand and mortar crumbs on the ground below an elevation mean it is washing out.
Look at the brick faces. Spalling, where the face has blown off, usually means a previous repoint used mortar harder than the brick.
Compare elevations. The weather facing side, usually south and west here, nearly always fails first, so the whole house may not need doing.
Look inside. Damp on the inner face of an elevation with failed pointing links the two.

Send us a close up photo of the joints and one of the whole elevation and we can usually tell you what mortar the wall needs and how much has actually gone.

Brick, flint and mortar in East Sussex

This county has an unusual mixture of walling. Eastbourne, Hastings and Bexhill are largely brick, much of it soft Victorian stock laid in lime. Move inland towards Lewes, Battle and the villages and you find flint with brick dressings, sandstone, and cottages with several centuries of alterations in one elevation.

Flint work needs a different approach again. It relies almost entirely on the mortar to hold it, so pointing that has failed on a flint wall is a structural matter rather than a cosmetic one, and it has to be repointed in lime with the mortar packed correctly around the stones.

Coastal exposure ties it all together. Driven rain and salt attack mortar joints directly, and salt crystallising in the face of a brick or a joint breaks it up. On exposed elevations pointing simply does not last as long, and a lime mortar that can be renewed easily is a better long term answer than a cement one that damages the brick.

In conservation areas and on listed buildings the mortar mix and joint finish are often part of the consent, and using cement can be a breach as well as a technical mistake. We are happy to discuss the specification with a conservation officer where that applies.

Questions we get asked

How do I know if my wall needs repointing?

Try raking a joint with a screwdriver or a key. If mortar comes out easily, is crumbling or sandy, or the joints are noticeably recessed and cracked, the pointing has failed. Other signs are mortar debris at the base of the wall, damp inside on a weather facing elevation, and moss or plant growth in the joints. Patchy failure can often be repointed locally rather than a whole wall.

Should my house be repointed in lime or cement?

If it is solid walled, built before roughly 1920 and originally laid in lime, it should be repointed in lime. Cement mortar is harder and less permeable than the old brick, so it traps moisture and pushes it out through the brick faces, which then spall and crumble. Modern cavity walled brickwork is fine with an appropriate cement based mix.

Why are the faces coming off my bricks?

This is spalling, and the usual cause is water in the brick freezing, often after the wall was repointed in a mortar harder than the brick or painted with an impermeable coating. The moisture cannot escape through the joints so it leaves through the brick face and takes it with it. Repointing in a softer mortar and replacing the worst bricks is the remedy.

Can you match the bricks in my wall?

Usually, yes. We source reclaimed bricks or new stock matched for size, colour and texture, which matters because Victorian bricks are a different size from modern ones. For a visible elevation we will show you the match before we cut anything out. We also match the mortar colour and the joint profile so the repair does not stand out.

How long does repointing take?

A single elevation on a house is commonly one to two weeks including access, depending on how much has to be cut out by hand and on the weather. Lime work needs protecting while it cures and cannot be done in frost, so we plan lime repointing for the warmer months.

Will repointing stop my damp problem?

It will if the damp is coming through failed joints on a weather facing wall, which is common. It will not if the cause is a blocked gutter, a bridged damp course, cracked render or condensation. We look at the wall inside and out before saying which it is, and there is more on our damp proofing page.

Is it worth painting or sealing brickwork instead?

We would advise against it on older solid walls. Water repellent coatings and masonry paint reduce the wall’s ability to dry out, so moisture that does get in stays in and comes out through the brick face or shows inside. Repointing correctly is the better answer, and it can be renewed in future rather than needing stripping.

Can you build a garden or boundary wall?

Yes. Garden walls, boundary walls, piers and gate posts all need a foundation sized for the height and the ground, coping or capping to shed water, and movement joints on longer runs. Where a wall retains soil it needs designing and draining, which we cover under fencing and landscaping.

Where we work

We are based on Hyde Gardens in Eastbourne, so the town and the villages around it are home ground for us. We are out working here most days and we know the housing well, including the older seafront terraces, the Victorian and Edwardian houses in Upperton and Meads, and the newer estates and blocks of flats nearer the edge of town.

From Eastbourne we cover the whole of East Sussex. Along the coast that takes in Bexhill, Hastings, Seaford, Newhaven, Brighton, where salt air and driving rain are hard on any building. Inland we work regularly in Polegate, Hailsham, Pevensey, Willingdon, Lewes, Uckfield, Heathfield, Crowborough, Battle and the smaller villages between them, where period cottages and country properties often need a gentler approach and older materials matched carefully.

Being local matters for brickwork and repointing. We can get to you quickly to take a look, we know the buildings and the ground conditions, and we are never far away if you need us again. If your village is not on the list there is a good chance we still reach you, so give us a call on 01323 671001 and we will tell you either way.

Backed by recognised standards

We are Gas Safe registered and members of the Federation of Master Builders, NAPIT and the FSB. Those memberships mean our gas, electrical and building work is measured against recognised standards, and that an outside body has looked at how we work rather than us simply saying we are good at it. For a family business our reputation matters more than anything, and we have built it one customer at a time.

Brickwork & Repointing