Brick lasts a century or more. The mortar holding it together lasts maybe 30 to 50 years before it needs renewal. If you own a brick home, chimney, or wall in New England, you will eventually need repointing. Here is how to know when.
How to tell if your brick needs repointing
The fingernail test
Take a fingernail or a penny and scrape across a mortar joint. Healthy mortar is hard and resists scratching. Failing mortar is soft, crumbly, and you can pull pieces out with your nails.
Visible recession
Look at the joint depth. New mortar joints sit nearly flush with the brick face. Failing joints have receded back, sometimes a half inch or more into the wall. Once joints recede that far, water gets behind the bricks and accelerates the damage.
Cracks running through the joints
Hairline cracks in mortar joints are an early warning. Wider cracks (anything you can fit a credit card edge into) mean repointing is overdue.
Bricks coming loose
If you can wiggle individual bricks, the mortar is gone and you need repointing now, before the bricks fall out and you are doing a rebuild instead.
What proper repointing actually looks like
This is where corners get cut by lazy contractors. Proper repointing is more involved than people realize.
Step 1: Grind out the failed mortar
We grind out the old mortar to a depth of about 3/4 inch, or about 2.5 times the joint width, whichever is greater. This gives the new mortar a solid bond. Lazy contractors skim a new layer over the failed joint without grinding, and it cracks and falls out within a year.
Step 2: Match the mortar
We use Type N mortar from Beacon Supply, which is premixed for consistent color and strength. Type N is the correct mortar for most New England masonry: strong enough to hold the wall together but soft enough that it absorbs minor movement without cracking the brick face. Using Type S or Type M (which are harder) on an older brick wall can actually crack the bricks themselves.
Step 3: Pack and tool the joint
We pack the mortar in tight, then tool it to match the existing joint profile (concave, V-joint, struck, or whatever the original mason used). Tooling matters for both water shedding and appearance.
Step 4: Cure the joint
Fresh mortar needs to cure slowly. We protect it from direct sun in summer and from freezing temperatures in winter. Cured mortar lasts 50+ years. Mortar that cured too fast (or froze before it set) fails within a couple seasons.
Cost in Massachusetts
Repointing is priced by square foot of wall area, not by linear foot of joint. Most jobs in Eastern MA run between $15 and $35 per square foot depending on access, height, and the condition of the existing joints. Chimney repointing is typically priced as a flat rate per face.
One thing we are different on: we own our own scaffolding. Most contractors rent it and pass that cost to you. We do not. Scaffolding rental is built into a lot of repointing quotes and it is significant on multi-story jobs.
What to ask before hiring
Three questions:
- What mortar type are you using and why?
- How deep are you grinding out the existing joints?
- Is scaffolding included in the quote or extra?
If they cannot answer the first two clearly, they are not the right contractor.
For brick repointing across Eastern MA, RI, and Southern NH, call (774) 464-3682 for a free estimate.