How Much Does It Cost to Tuckpoint a Brick House?

If you’re a homeowner with a brick house, you may have heard of tuckpointing. But how much does it cost to tuckpoint a brick house?

No matter how durable you think your brick house is, it still needs regular maintenance like any other type of house. Over time, the water sealant that protects your bricks from moisture may break down or your walls may show early signs of damage.

Our goal in this article is to give you comprehensive information that explains what is tuckpointing, its benefits, factors affecting its cost, signs of damage to watch out for, and more.

Let’s get started!

What Is Tuckpointing?

Brick is one of the strongest materials out there that can last for centuries. The only problem is that the mineral bond that glues bricks together — mortar — doesn’t last as long as the brick itself.

Mortar is the weakest component within the system and will cause the brick to deteriorate over two to three decades if not taken care of properly.

That’s where tuckpointing comes into play.

Tuckpointing is a process that removes any deteriorated or damaged mortar from the brick structure and replaces it with new mortar using a mortar gun or a pointing trowel.

What Are the Benefits of Tuckpointing Your Brick House?

Tuckpointing offers a wide range of advantages for your home, from increasing its functionality to enhancing its aesthetic appeal. That said, let’s take a closer look at how you can benefit from this solution.

Weather-proof Your Home

One of the biggest advantages you can expect from tuckpointing your brick house is weatherproofing your home.

As a city that experiences rainfall all year round, homeowners in Detroit need to consider tuckpointing to protect their homes from the effects of the weather.

When it rains, the water can penetrate your bricks and cause damage from within. It may start with minor holes and cracks, but if left unattended, these minor damages can worsen and cause structural damage to your home.

Increase Your Home’s Value

Aside from protecting your walls from excess moisture, tuckpointing also increases your home’s value by protecting it from pests, bugs, and mold growth.

Since tuckpointing seals any cracks and holes in your bricks, pests like termites, rodents, and cockroaches won’t be able to enter your house or walls.

Improve Curb Appeal

Another benefit of tuckpointing services is that they can increase your home’s curb appeal. By removing any signs of damage (like cracks and small holes), this service can make your home look brand new again.

How Much Does It Cost to Tuckpoint a Brick House?

Now that you know what tuckpointing is and how it can benefit you, you may be wondering: how much does it cost to tuckpoint a brick house?

Generally, the cost of tuckpointing your brick house can vary depending on how bad the damages are and how much labor you need.

Keep in mind that the bulk of the tuckpointing cost will depend on labor costs as this intensive process involves skilled masons to get the job done.

What Factors Affect the Cost?

Since the bulk of tuckpointing services revolves around labor, the remaining factors that can contribute to the price come down to the complexity of the project.

Here is a breakdown of the factors that can affect the cost of tuckpointing brick:

• Height of Tuckpointing: The higher the mason has to go to fix the brick damages, the more expensive it will be. This is because masons will need supplementary equipment like ladders, scaffolds, and other special tools just to get the job done.
• Surface Condition: The complexity of the job depends also on the condition of the surface. If a mason encounters complications as a result of a DIY gone wrong, they may need to do damage control to fix the problem. This, in turn, can lead to much higher costs.
• Season: Ideally, tuckpointing should be done when the temperatures are optimal (between 40 to 90 ℉). If homeowners need emergency services during the winter, the company may need to charge more since their masons need to take more precautions to accomplish the task safely and correctly.

Signs That Your Home Needs Tuckpointing

Typically, your home should need tuckpointing every 25 to 30 years, but when signs of damage appear, you may need to book tuckpointing services much sooner.

Signs of damage that warrant immediate tuckpointing services include the following:

• The mortar is crumbling from the joints.
• The mortar has eroded over one-quarter of an inch.
• You notice significant voids in the brick’s mortar.
• There are cracks between the mortar and the bricks.
• Vines are growing on the mortar or bricks.

Tuckpointing Vs. Repointing

Tuckpointing and repointing are often confused because they have the same purpose: to fix broken bricks. However, there are distinct differences between the two.

On the one hand, tuckpointing is a more decorative form of masonry since it involves the process of filling brick joints with a contrasting mortar color.

On the other hand, repointing is a practical technique where the main objectives include:

• Renewing damaged mortar
• Improving its appearance

That said, if you require more complex work that gives off decorative results, the best choice would be to opt for tuckpointing services.

DIY vs. Professional Tuckpointing

If you want to tuckpoint broken or irregular bricks, you have two options:

1. DIY the project
2. Seek professional help

While you may think that DIY-ing will help save you some money, it can lead to higher costs. When you DIY with no prior experience, you can make costly mistakes along the way.

Rather than DIY-ing it, it’s better to get professional tuckpointing from Detroit Brick Company. We have the equipment, expertise, and experience to tuckpoint your broken bricks with ease and efficiency.

Conclusion

How much does it cost to tuckpoint a brick house? The cost of tuckpointing a brick house varies depending on the extent of the damages and how much labor is required. Factors that can affect the cost include the height of tuckpointing, the surface condition, and the season.

Tuckpointing is an essential masonry service if you want to revamp your home and improve its functionality. If you don’t want to wait for 25 to 30 years before getting it done, contact our experts today!

With our masonry services, you can get the results you want.