If the mortar on your wall, chimney or patio is cracked and crumbling away, it is time to grab a trowel, mix up some mortar and re-point your way into a rewarding home repair project. Step 1: Use a ...

Masonry walls are only as solid as their weak links, the mortar joints. Stacks of concrete block, brick and stone that depend on them always outlast them. Hairline cracks are the first sign of trouble ...

The bricks on my four-story house in Brooklyn need to be repointed. The house was built circa 1890 and I want to make sure the contractor uses mortar that is not too hard for the old bricks. There is ...

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 ...

Last week, I fielded no fewer than five phone calls from homeowner with the same grim news. They found it nearly impossible to get quotes from contractors to do fairly simple repairs. Each caller’s ...