Please note: This page is currently under construction and awaiting pictures.

Many red brick houses were originally built using lime mortar and the need to continue this trend is essential to the health of a property as older houses move and need to breath. If cement mortar is used in repairs the movement inherent in older properties results in damage to brickwork. It is always difficult to repair a property where cement mortar has been trowelled over existing lime mortar as the cement mortar is rock hard and sticks to the sides of the bricks making it almost impossible to rake out cleanly and without damage.

When cement mortar is used in the repair process it also waterproofs joints making it impossible for moisture to escape. It then becomes trapped and the result is damp and rotten bricks. The use of cement mortar in modern builds is not problematic as the structure is built to accommodate it.

One can always tell a lime mortar finish as it will have been brushed and not trowelled - its consistency does not lend itself to this. When it's brush finished the aggregates are brought to the surface which is in direct contrast to trowelling which pushes the aggregates into the cement.

Freezing temperatures or not conducive to brickwork repairs, but neither are baking hot summers. In either case, the newly pointed brickwork needs to be protected with hessian if temperatures are extreme. 

Advice: there are unscrupulous contracters who will pretend they are using lime mortar when in fact they are using white cement. This enables them to complete the work quicker whilst saving money on materials. Buyers beware.

Some companies, who say they undertake lime mortar repointing, use guns. However a standard lime mortar mix cannot make its exit through a nozzle as the aggregates in the sand are too large. Therefore the mix needs to be bastardised with cement, hydrated lime, and a smidgen of hydraulic lime. This is added to soft sand (which has smaller aggregates) that enables ease of application which unfortunately means that houses do not gain the full benefit of a pure natural hydraulic lime mortar. In direct contrast to natural hydraulic lime mortar the mix is soft which means it can then be smoothed with trowel which results in a property looking like it has been finished with a creamy cement mortar.