Brickwork & Repointing Leeds

Look for mortar that's crumbling, recessed more than a few millimetres, or missing in patches — you can usually pick at failing mortar with a fingernail. If water is getting into the wall you'll often see damp patches inside that seem to have no other cause.

Older Leeds brick, especially pre-1920s, is softer than modern brick and was built with a lime mortar that lets moisture move through and evaporate. A hard modern cement mortar traps that moisture in the brick instead, which causes the brick itself to spall and fail — the repair ends up causing more damage than the problem it was meant to fix.

Yes, that's the point of doing it properly. We match sand colour, mortar mix and pointing style so the repointed section doesn't stand out against the original — a mismatched patch is usually more obvious than the erosion it replaced.

A chimney with badly failed pointing is worth having looked at — it takes the worst of the weather and problems there can let water into the roof space below. We'll assess it honestly and tell you if it's a repointing job or something more.

Both, depending on what the wall needs. Spalled or cracked bricks get replaced individually rather than repointed around, because repointing a failing brick doesn't fix it.