Q. I need to repair the mortar joints on my older brick home that was built in the late 1800s. I’ve seen some horrible workmanship where the mortar doesn’t match at all, and I want to avoid this. How ...

My guess is that most of the bricks you’ve seen in your lifetime have been very uniform in shape. Each brick is rectangular.

This brick was installed 129 years ago. This might very well be the original mortar. It’s survived many a harsh New Hampshire winter. (Tim Carter) Perspective by Tim Carter Q: I need to repair the ...

Dear Tim: I have a lovely brick patio that has mortar between the brick. After pressure-washing it this past weekend, I noticed several locations where the mortar has disintegrated. Most of the mortar ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Do you know what “repointing” bricks means? By definition, it consists of “removing a portion of the deteriorated mortar and redoing the joints with new mortar.” Doing that basically ...

When the mortar between bricks starts to fail, more significant problems will begin to emerge. Water will have an easier passage into the structure of your home, leading to unwanted damp issues.

QDEAR TIM: I have a patio repair job at my house. The irregular pieces of limestone are fine, but the mortar joints between them are failing. In some places, the stones have lifted up. The patio is ...