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, ...

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 ...

Wind, rain and frost all damage the mortar between bricks. This makes the wall less weatherproof – so repointing (which simply means replacing) the mortar is important to stop the wall wearing away.

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 ...

A reader recently emailed me, seeking advice on whether to take on a do-it-yourself repair of the mortar around her brick masonry. She regularly performs hands-on maintenance around her home, she said ...

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 ...