Brick pointing in Lake Elsinore CA - solid mortar joints and clean brick edges
Mortar crumbling or pulling away from your brick? We find out why first, then pack in fresh mortar that suits your wall.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- We respond within 1 business day.
What is brick pointing, and does my wall need it?
Brick pointing, which you may also hear called repointing or tuckpointing, means raking the worn mortar out from between your bricks and packing the joints with fresh mortar. On a brick wall or house in Lake Elsinore, it's one of the best ways to cut down on water getting into the wall.
Most people call me after they notice the mortar looks worn or a joint is coming apart, and they want to know whether it's a small fix or the start of something bigger. The price comes down to how many square feet need work, how deep the bad mortar goes, how high we have to reach and how thin your joints are, since thin joints mean slower hand work. Those same things set the schedule, along with any permit the job needs. If the bricks themselves are cracked or loose, that's brick repair, and when I come out the estimate tells you which one your wall needs and what it costs.
How can you tell your mortar joints are wearing out?
Joints sunk behind the brick
When the mortar has worn back far enough that the brick edges stand out, the joints aren't shedding water the way they should. Left alone, water works deeper every year and starts loosening the brick the mortar is supposed to hold.
Mortar that crumbles to sand
Gritty sand along the bottom of a wall, or mortar that falls apart when you rub it, means the joint has gone soft all the way through. That's usually when spot patching stops working and the whole joint has to come out.
Cracks in or beside the mortar
Thin cracks through the mortar, or a line where the mortar has pulled away from the brick, let water straight into the wall. Cracks that step up the wall like a staircase usually mean something is moving, and I want to know what before we repoint, because fresh mortar over a moving wall just cracks again.
How we do brick pointing on your wall
I start by scraping a few joints to see how deep the soft mortar goes, and by asking what's been wearing it out, because new joints won't last if that keeps happening. Then we choose hand tools or power tools for the old mortar based on how thin your joints are and how much wall there is, since a careless grinder chips the brick edges and that's damage nobody can undo. We rake each joint back to solid mortar, brush out the dust, pack the new mortar in, tool it to match the joints around it and clean the brick face before we leave.
Repointing sometimes turns up a bigger question. If the joints keep opening in the same place, I'll check whether the house is settling, which is foundation repair and has to come before fresh mortar makes sense. Chimneys stand up above the roof with nothing to shelter them, so loose brick or crumbling joints up there fall under chimney repair, and we can often take care of it on the same job.
Spot repointing
This suits a wall that's sound overall with worn joints in one area, like under a downspout or along the bottom few rows. We repoint just that section and blend it in, which keeps the cost down when the rest of the wall is holding up fine.
Full repointing
This makes sense when the joints are soft or sunk back across most of the wall, because patching one area at a time ends up costing more and looks patchy. We work the whole face top to bottom, so every joint is new and matches the next.
Get a free on-site estimate for your brick pointing
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time. I'll come look at the joints, answer your questions and give you a free estimate on site, with no pressure to book.
(951) 579-7076- Based in
- Lake Elsinore, CA 92530
- Hours
- Mon–Sun: 6 AM–11 PM
What happens after you call us about brick pointing?
Here's how a repointing job runs from your first call to the last joint, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call or send the form
Call (951) 579-7076 or send the form, and we'll get back to you to pick a time for me to come out. Let us know if the wall is two stories or hard to reach, since that changes what I look at.
I come out and look
I look at the joints up close, scrape a few, ask what you've noticed and tell you what's actually failing and why. You get the price for your wall right there, so you know the cost before anything starts.
Paperwork first, then the crew
Once you're ready, we sort out whatever the local office asks for, then our lead mason runs the crew as they rake out and repoint the joints. Raking out mortar raises dust, so we'll ask you to keep nearby windows shut while we work.
We walk the wall together
When the last joint is tooled and the brick is cleaned, I walk the wall with you and look over the work before we call it done. If something doesn't look right to you, that's the time to say so.
Why Lake Elsinore homeowners call E&M for brick pointing
The owner comes out and quotes
I come out myself, look at your joints up close and give you the estimate, and I'd rather quote the one section that's failing than sell you a whole wall you don't need. Our lead mason runs the crew, and I check the finished work with you.
In business since 2013
I started this business in 2013, after growing up spending summers on a masonry crew mixing mortar and hauling block. A wall that doesn't make sense at first is the part of this work I like best, and repointing is full of them.
Licensed and insured, worth asking about
We're fully licensed and insured. If you're comparing bids, it helps to know California's contractor licensing board counts masonry as its own kind of contractor work, covering brick, block, stone and terra cotta.
On a repointing job, what matters most is knowing why the joints failed before any mortar comes out. Call (951) 579-7076 or send us a note through our contact page, and I'll come take a look.
Brick pointing and older brick in Lake Elsinore
Lake Elsinore's building official issues permits for work that repairs or alters a building or structure, and you apply before the work starts, through the city's permits and inspection office. I won't guess whether your wall needs one, so we find out which office covers your address, the city or the county, and take care of the permit paperwork when the job needs it. The city has also inventoried more than 100 historic properties, and the historic downtown has its own plan with standards meant to protect the character of its older buildings, so if your brick goes back that far, tell me when you call and we'll find out what applies.
Most of the brick we repoint around here is on houses, chimneys, garden walls and planters, and the worn joints usually sit where water hits the same spot over and over. We're based in Lake Elsinore and work across the cities around it, and we see the same pattern on jobs in Murrieta and Menifee.
Questions about brick pointing in Lake Elsinore
How do I know if my brick needs repointing?
Your brick likely needs repointing if the mortar has worn back more than about a quarter inch from the brick face, crumbles, has gaps, shows hairline cracks or is cracking away from the brick. Those are the five signs brick industry guidance lists, and you can check for them yourself with a flashlight before asking anyone for a quote. If you spot them, a few photos help me know where to look.
How much does brick repointing cost in Lake Elsinore?
Professional brick repointing across the US usually costs about $400 to $2,500 per 100 square feet of wall, and that's a national figure, not our price. A tall wall that needs scaffolding or thin joints that need slow hand work push toward the high end, while a small, low section sits lower. When I come out, the estimate gives you the price for your own wall.
How do I choose a mason for brick repointing?
Ask to see repointing jobs they've done, not just walls they've built, because a great bricklayer isn't always good at repointing. It's also fair to ask for a small sample on a hidden part of your wall and to ask how they'll take out the old mortar. Comparing those answers across bids tells you more than the price alone.
How long does brick repointing last?
Mortar joints typically last more than 25 years, while the bricks themselves can last well over 100, so the joints are the part you'll redo over the life of the wall. One cost guide says professional repointing can last up to 30 years. How long yours holds up depends a lot on whether whatever wore out the old mortar gets fixed.
Will new mortar match the old mortar on my house?
New mortar can get close in color and texture, but just as important, it should be no stronger than the old mortar. Brick industry guidance warns that harder mortar can cause spalling, where the face of the brick flakes off, and that damage can't be repaired. It's a fair question to ask any mason bidding the job, including us.
How long does brick pointing take on a house?
It takes longer than most people expect, because every joint gets raked out, packed and tooled one at a time. The total turns on how much wall needs it, how high it goes and how thin the joints are, and on bigger or taller walls scaffolding may stay up for a while. Raking out mortar is also noisy, so I'll talk through timing with you once I've seen the wall.
Related masonry work that often comes up with repointing
Foundation repair
When a wall keeps cracking in the same spot no matter how often it's patched, the problem usually sits underneath, in the footing or slab below it.
Chimney repair
Loose bricks, a cracked cap or mortar washing out near the roofline are worth catching early, before water gets inside the chimney and the repair grows.
Brick pointing across Lake Elsinore and nearby cities
E&M Lake Elsinore Concrete & Masonry is based in Lake Elsinore, CA, and we repoint brick across the cities around it. The 12 cities below each have their own page, including Wildomar and Temecula, and we work in plenty of places beyond them too.
Lake Elsinore, CA
Get your worn mortar joints looked at
Have a few photos of the worn joints, a rough square footage of the wall and the age of the building handy when you call (951) 579-7076 or send the form, so I come out knowing where to look.