TUCKPOINTING & MASONRY

Comfort Premier Services offers you full service for all of your commercial or residential tuck pointing and masonry needs. As a fully insured contractor, we provide quality premier service to meet your expectations on every project.

Tuckpointing is the process of cutting out old mortar to a standardized depth and placing new mortar in the joint to repair mortar joints that have deteriorated.

• If you have erosion more than 1/4" from the front of the unit or beyond the depth of the original joint.
• Visible cracks visible in the mortar.
• Brick and mortar bond is broken down.
• Mortar is soft or crumbling.
• Any section of a mortar joint is missing.

There are many reasons why mortar can deteriorate. Too much moisture can enter a wall and freeze repeatedly, spalling of the mortar and brick will occur due to the expansion of the frozen water. The moisture can get into the walls from leaks in flashing, gutters, lintels, sills and sealant joints. Sometimes older buildings were built without sufficient expansion joints and cracking occurs when building movement is caused from thermal expansion. All clay products such as, brick grow overtime, while concrete products shrink as they age. Often in very old buildings, the composition of the mortar used could be the reason it is unable to be as resistant to severe weathering. For example, the use of high cement content mortars can result in loss of bond between brick and mortar. Other common reasons are; erosion from water, wind and pollution, and uneven settlement in the foundation.

• Identification of wall area(s) in need of repair
• Removal of the defective mortar with the proper tools to prevent damage to adjacent masonry units
• Removal of dust and debris from joints to be pointed by brushing or flushing with water
• Mortar is mixed that closely matches the existing in strength, hardness, color and texture
• Dampening of the mortar joints before the mortar is pointed in
• Tightly packing the fresh mortar into the joints in thin layers (1/4" maximum)
• Tooling of the mortar to match the original profile after it has become “thumbprint” hard
• Light brushing of the joints to remove any excesses
• Application of commercial cleaners to remove any mortar stains

After you have correctly tuckpointed the wall has improved structural integrity and is more resistant to moisture for years to come. An added benefit of tuckpointing is that the overall appearance of the wall is improved with new mortar.

The entry point of moisture is often found at windows and doors caused by missing or deteriorated sealant within building expansion joints and at the perimeter of masonry openings. These joints should be professionally inspected and if the sealant has torn or lost elasticity, the recommendation is to cut out completely and new sealant properly installed.

• Improper joint design (width of joint)
• Incorrect type of sealant used, i.e., silicone, urethane, acrylic
• Lack of proper preparation (cleaning and priming) prior to sealant installation
• Incorrect placement of backing rod (the material behind the sealant used to control its depth or width-to-depth ratio)
• Age and exposure to ultra-violet light from the sun and climatic extremes

Comfort Premier Services delivers the highest quality Tuckpointing & Masonry services because our name stands for safety, quality, comfort.