Pointing Brickwork

Such a knowledgeable community this is and was wondering and hoping there might be a bricklayer or jobbing builder or 2 in the house.

I want to re point the brickwork on our garage. I'm reasonably practical but I don't have a lot of experience with cement/ mortar.
I'm at a bit of a loss as to ratios/types of sand,cement ,lime (Maybe) and plasticizer to use.
I read you can get a mortar gun that works like a silicon sealant gun that will speed things up, but not sure if it will work/block up.
Also I've read that an attachment that screws onto the end of an angle grinder will remove the mortar easily. Are these a good idea?
Over to you guys for any tips and advice. It will be very well appreciated

Cheers

Rich

the silicon gun type things are good,but you will get fed up refilling it. I normally use a small trowel and a pointing iron for putting it back in.the screw attachments for a grinder are good and will shift the old mortar quickly,but it will go everywhere ( goggles and mask needed ). as for mix of your muck,a photo of your brickwork would help,it should not be stronger than the bricks it is holding together.so maybe something 4 sand ,1 cement and 1 lime would suit.

I was out ely way last weekend at some hillybilly village called prickwillow ,shame I could have popped in and had a look

matthew71":3gx30q1j said:

the silicon gun type things are good,but you will get fed up refilling it. I normally use a small trowel and a pointing iron for putting it back in.the screw attachments for a grinder are good and will shift the old mortar quickly,but it will go everywhere ( goggles and mask needed ). as for mix of your muck,a photo of your brickwork would help,it should not be stronger than the bricks it is holding together.so maybe something 4 sand ,1 cement and 1 lime would suit.

I was out ely way last weekend at some hillybilly village called prickwillow ,shame I could have popped in and had a look

Click to expand...

I've seen mastic used before now for pointing brickwork - is that valid / reasonable?

Often thought about tending to some areas of the wall brickwork myself - more really garden walls, really.

matthew71":3i1jttm6 said:

the silicon gun type things are good,but you will get fed up refilling it. I normally use a small trowel and a pointing iron for putting it back in.the screw attachments for a grinder are good and will shift the old mortar quickly,but it will go everywhere ( goggles and mask needed ). as for mix of your muck,a photo of your brickwork would help,it should not be stronger than the bricks it is holding together.so maybe something 4 sand ,1 cement and 1 lime would suit.

I was out ely way last weekend at some hillybilly village called prickwillow ,shame I could have popped in and had a look

Click to expand...

That's excellent Matthew, I really appreciate your expert opinion on this. I've ordered a couple of the carbide angle grinder attachments, so I can hopefully start this coming Thursday, weather permitting of course. I'll pick up a gun type repointing utensil in the week.

Richard

Hi

You could get away with a bit of garden hose instead of buying a tool.

Worked for me

Bazza

I would be very hesitant to use an angle grinder - I've seen too many people get 'enthusiastic' with them and end up grinding the faces of the bricks and really ******* the wall up. You will end up with loads of grinding cuts on the brick faces and this will just encourage water to get behind the face of the brick, freeze, and then blow the face of the brick off.

I would not use this method at all.

I owned a late Victorian house with lime mortar that was in bad shape and ended up just using a selection of old chisels to rake out the old mortar. It is more time consuming but infinitely neater. You wont regret taking your time and doing it carefully.

badbaz77":2xopn1ru said:

Hi

You could get away with a bit of garden hose instead of buying a tool.

Worked for me

Bazza

Click to expand...

I guess that is for mortar pointing, you will be there forever trying to chop the old mortar out with a hosepipe
and perhaps try the grinder in somewhere out of sight first (around the back ? or next door,s garage ) and see how it gose

SteveKlein":22lhcx64 said:

I would be very hesitant to use an angle grinder - I've seen too many people get 'enthusiastic' with them and end up grinding the faces of the bricks and really **** the wall up. You will end up with loads of grinding cuts on the brick faces and this will just encourage water to get behind the face of the brick, freeze, and then blow the face of the brick off.

I would not use this method at all.

I owned a late Victorian house with lime mortar that was in bad shape and ended up just using a selection of old chisels to rake out the old mortar. It is more time consuming but infinitely neater. You wont regret taking your time and doing it carefully.

Click to expand...

I was thinking of one of these rather than a disc type cutter, which correct me if I'm wrong I think what you mean

badbaz77":k266zfs9 said:

Hi

You could get away with a bit of garden hose instead of buying a tool.

Worked for me

Bazza

Click to expand...

A trick you got from you old man? Funny when my old man re-pointed the joint to our extension he used a bit of old hose too, worked a treat and looked good too.

Carl.

drcarlos":1n7f3jc8 said:

badbaz77":1n7f3jc8 said:

Hi

You could get away with a bit of garden hose instead of buying a tool.

Worked for me

Bazza

Click to expand...

A trick you got from you old man? Funny when my old man re-pointed the joint to our extension he used a bit of old hose too, worked a treat and looked good too.

Carl.

Click to expand...

The hose thing - I don't get it - is it for applying the mortar, or digging out the old?