A reader recently emailed me, seeking advice on whether to take on a do-it-yourself repair of the mortar around her brick masonry. She regularly performs hands-on maintenance around her home, she said ...

Brick houses are hard to damage. Anyone familiar with The Three Little Pigs knows that. Inevitably, however, there comes a time when the mortar between bricks begins to degrade. The process of repair, ...

Last week, I fielded no fewer than five phone calls from homeowners with the same grim news. They found it nearly impossible to get quotes from contractors to do fairly simple repairs. Each caller’s ...

If the mortar on your wall, chimney or patio is cracked and crumbling away, it is time to grab a trowel, mix up some mortar and re-point your way into a rewarding home repair project. Step 1: Use a ...

Q We have responded to a leaflet for external wall coating for our house. The coating is guaranteed for 15 years, and conforms to British Standard BS5750 and ISO9002. The salesman assured us that the ...

Q We have a Sixties brick-built house with a first-floor, south-facing balcony. The balcony is a 6m x 1m slab of concrete and is in need of repair. Water has penetrated the tile covering and is ...

We've all seen it: The brick or stone wall where the mortar is all powdery, cracked or non-existent. "Mortar can disintegrate over time because of weather as a result of the freeze-thaw cycles. The ...