A lot of the mortar between the bricks on my house next to my driveway is sandy and falling out so much that I can put my finger in there. Why is that happening?
Answer
One of the reasons this happens is because when the house was built, the original mortar may have been mixed poorly and too much lime was added and not enough cement, so weather slowly dissolves it.
Another reason this could be happening is because your driveway may be slightly pitched toward your house instead of away from it. If that’s the case, that part of the wall is taking extra abuse from rain, snow buildup, and repeated freeze–thaw cycles that drain toward your house and not away from it.
Salting the driveway in the winter also can make it worse by pulling moisture into the joints and crystallizing as it dries, which weakens the mortar and makes it sandy enough that you can rub your finger across it and eventually stick your finger in where mortar used to be.
Without physically seeing it, I would think tuckpointing should take care of the problem.
If ignored, eventually it will lead to brick replacement instead of tuckpointing.
Once the weather gets a little better, you should get that fixed while you’re still in the cheaper repair window. Being proactive could save you a fair amount of money down the road.
