We’re lining up our spring schedule now! Get your estimate soon to take advantage of these great deals on tuckpointing and brick repair. We’re always around, either a click or call away.

http://www.atekbuilding.com/contact-us.php

314-629-2283

–Jake

When tuckpointing doesn’t last so long we can point our finger in a few directions.

First, would be the contractor who completed the last job. They may have failed to clean the joints properly before putting in new mortar, or didn’t remove the old joints at all. (We call these guys ‘skimmers’. A weak mortar mix might have been used or the mortar joints may have not been properly filled. The work may have been completed out of season and the mortar froze before cured.

Secondly, We can attribute a lot of mortar failure to settling. Settling cracks and holes appear when the foundation of the masonry walls has shifted. Settling is more inclined to occur on soft soil where a weak foundation exists. Earthquakes, even very minor ones, can cause settling of a foundation.

And Finally, and least likely, but still possible… Unusual stress on the brick/block wall will cause rapid mortar failure. Examples? Maybe one wall of your house is constantly being soaked by a nearby sprinkler causing excessive water retention in the brick and mortar. Or too much weight on a specific area for too long can cause just enough movement to damage a small area, that in turn would allow water entry damaging a much larger area.

You have a tuckpointing project and are wondering how much money you’re going to have to spend to solve the problem. Is there a square foot price for tuckpointing? What does it cost per square foot?

We bid all our projects by calculating time and material. There isn’t a “set square foot price” With that in mind, your looking at around $3-$6 per square foot for the first ten feet in height and $5-$10 for most anything above that. With tuckpointing, most of the cost involved will be labor and set-up. If it’s hard to get to, it’s going to take more time, labor and equipment. Chimneys are a good example of hard to get to places. The cost to tuckpoint a chimney is especially influenced by ease of access.

Additional costs can occur. When a tuckpointing project is under way, there might be additional brick work (brick repair, restoration cleaning, minor relay, etc.) involved. Applying a masonry waterproofer after project completion (highly recommended especially with St. Louis weather) will also cost a bit more.

A Helpful Tip: I’ve been approached a number of times by customers asking why my price is so low, as well as, why my price is so high. When comparing bids, the most common gap can in price can be the scope of work (how much is actually getting done). So when collecting your bids, try to compare the relative ones.

Several other factors are going to come into play when you get your quote, such as:

• Quality and Experienced Labor
  • Are you getting an estimate from an expert or the neighborhood handyman? How long has the company/crew been in the masonry field?
  • Can the company provide pictures/references from previous work? Is the company recognized by the BBB? What’s their rating?

• How Long the Job Will Take
  • Beyond the previously stated “ease of access” Other things to consider include how hard it will be to remove the existing mortar and is water and electric available on site.

• Material
  • The cost of the materials to be used. Mortar, color, masonry cleaners, waterproofing material, diamond grinding blades and other consumables.

• Additional Company Overhead
  • Advertising budget. If the company has commercials during the Superbowl and a billboard in the stadium along with it, you’re paying for it.
  • Salesmen. A lot of larger companies have full-time salesmen. They meet up with you, sell you their product and you will probably not see or hear from them again until payday. Choosing a smaller company can save you tons of money.
  • Tools and Equipment. Is the company using safe up-to-date tools and equipment? Quality tools cost more, but usually last longer and are cheaper in the long run.
  • Insurances. Does the company carry insurances. Liability, Work Comp, Even Proper automobile insurances.

The bottom line is you get what you pay for, good, bad and ugly. With Atek, you’re getting quality, experience and a job done in a timely manner at a competitive price. We’re a small Saint Louis company with a small advertising budget, where the owner is the Marketer, Salesman, and Part of the crew on site during progress of the job.

Additional Questions? Visit the Contact us page and drop us a line. We’d be glad to hear from you!

–Jake

Tuckpointing in brick restoration is the process of replacing the mortar joints between the brick.

Why? Over time water causes damage to brick and mortar and if left untreated can cause water entry, brick movement and even walls to collapse.

Tuckpointing can also be done for aesthetic reasons including changing the color of the mortar and, when combined with restoration cleaning, making an old wall look new again.

The tuckpointing process can be found here on our website. http://www.atekbuilding.com/services/tuckpointing.php

If you have any questions, shoot us an email we’re always round for help.

Thanks,

–Jake

When fall turns into winter and winter turns to spring, water freezes and then it thaws. These Freeze-Thaw cycles cause water to expand and contract throughout the days and seasons.

Brick and mortar are “breathable” materials. They naturally retain some amount of water after normal rainfall. When the retained water goes through the freeze-thaw cycles, the water expands and contracts causing deterioration over the years.

The most common deterioration is at the mortar joints, causing them to ‘pop out’  or wither to sand. When this deterioration occurs it causes holes and voids in the brick work. When holes and voids get large enough, the brick walls start to retain more and more water until water eventually finds itself at your interior wall, causing damage to paint, plaster, drywall, and anything else it will touch.

True masonry homes are built with brick(1-2 courses thick) or block back-up walls with a brick facade (the brick we see on the outside) Water can take years, sometimes decades to make its way through.

The solution to the problem? Tuckpointing. Simple enough, right? Check out my next blog to find out exactly what tuckpointing is and how to stop water entering brick.

–Jake

Brick make a strong, secure dwelling. They provide insulation, collecting heat from the sun during the day, letting that heat out at night. They last a long time. Most are made from clay. St Louis has a lot of clay. Whole neighborhoods were built on clay mines. It gave on-site material and there was little to transport.

Bricklaying for dwellings have been around a long time, for thousands of years. They provide a secure habitat, and they last a long time if cared for. Personally, we have worked on brick houses that were well over a hundred years old. They were still fine houses. Yours can last that long too with proper maintenance, which is what we specialize in doing.

Let us make sure your home stays your castle for a long, long time.

Sand is just very small rock. I’m sure you knew that. When mixed with cement, the cement gets hard around the sand creating a very hard material. Many parts of the world use this simple combination to make mortar to lay bricks.

Here in America, specifically St. Louis, a third ingredient is often added. It is usually masonry, but it can sometimes be lime. Those three ingredients along with the proper amount of water is all you need to make mortar. Of course there are color additives, cold additives, glues and many more things you can add. Sand, cement and masonry are the basics.

The masonry, or lime, slows down the hardening effect. It makes the mortar more pliable. It also makes it sticky. That can be good or bad. A craftsman knows the proper sticky, though opinions do vary.

These ingredients at different amounts, especially the sand, produce different shades of gray(minus any color).

A common mix for tuckpointing is two parts sand to one part cement, with the cement being equal parts of Portland cement and masonry.

For bricklaying a common mix is three parts sand to one part cement, often lime is used instead of masonry. It goes further, and it cost less.

More sand makes the mortar weaker, and for bricklaying you do not want too strong a mix.

That fact can apply to a tuckpointing mix also. Too strong a mix can actually break the faces off the brick as the joint expand.

It’s best to know all the technical facts about your brick and mortar. Or, you can leave all that tedious information to us. Be secure in the knowledge that we know!

Gray, the base color, that is unless you substitute the commonly used standard Portland Cement with its brother, White Portland Cement. This White Portland Cement with lime and white Silica Sand produces, you guessed it, a white mortar.

So, your bases for mortar are gray or white, with every shade in between. This is before you add any color powder or liquid. The rainbow of that spectrum is only limited by your imagination. However, it would not be suggested to go to far away from the beaten path with fancy or unusual mortar colors. Remember, you must live with this choice a long time. Tuckpointing is an expensive task, and one you should not take too lightly.

The main choices of mortar colors besides the basic white to grays is red or black. You can have any shade of those to pick from depending on your mix.

The type of sand is very important, for that is the base of the base. You can choose Meramac Sand, Missouri Sand, Mississippi Sand, or Silica sand, to name a few. Any of these are a fine selection from a structural standpoint. They all act as aggregates that make your mix strong and durable. The rest is a mainly matter of aesthetics.

Over the years, different members of our crew have worked with many colors. There’s the Irish Catholic Church that chose green mortar. Specialty jobs have called for shades of yellow or blue. No ones seen a purple, but there may be one somewhere? The browns, chocolates, reds and blacks are way more common—less flashy too.

In our opinion, a good tuckpointing job is better used to highlight the brick or stone. It should not be the focus of the appearance of your home or building. The best jobs of tuckpointing are not readily noticed.

With few limitations to your imagination you have a wide spectrum of colors and shades of color to choose from.

Be aware there are few qualities of a given color that can have any effect on a mix . The two of the exceptions can be price and longevity.

The darker colors, blacks and browns or chocolates, have the problem of fading. Depending on where the job is, how it sits in the sun, different sides, different sections fade at different rates. Therefore your home could look two-toned or worse. It can be dark black on the front and a shade or two lighter on the back. Also, black has the other attribute that it attracts and holds more of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. This deteriorates the mortar quicker. We are talking over many years here, so that should be considered.

Whatever color you select for your St. Louis home or building, if you need or want our help, we will supply that. We will help you select the appropriate color mix for the individual job.

The gist is you can pick almost any color, but it is best to choose wisely.

M. A. Thompson