I noticed some of the mortar between the bricks near the bottom of my house is starting to crumble and fall out. It didn’t look this bad last year. Is tuckpointing what I would need to fix it?
Answer
Yes, from what you’re describing, tuckpointing may be exactly what you need. When mortar starts crumbling or falling out between otherwise solid bricks, we can usually remove the deteriorated mortar and replace it with new mortar. That helps seal the joints back up and keeps water from getting deeper into the wall. We would also check the bricks themselves to make sure none of them need to be replaced. You definitely don’t want to ignore missing mortar because Michigan winters can make the damage worse once water gets in and freezes. If the problem is limited to that lower section, there’s usually no reason to repair areas that are still in good condition. We would need to see it in person to determine exactly how much tuckpointing is needed.
