Re-mortar Brick Wall

Tools:

shop vacuum
mixing bucket
spray bottle
brick hammer
chisel
wire brush
trowel
5-in-1 painter's tool
chisel
tuck-pointed trowel
pointed trowel
mortar rake
buckets
plywood hawk (or mortar tray)
towel
gloves
dust mask
kneepads
safety glasses
cement
sand
lime

1. Chisel and chip away all soft or unattractive mortar sitting on bricks (figure A). Use the back end of a brick hammer and a painter's tool to scrape away mortar.

2. Brush off remaining loose bits with a stiff wire brush being careful not to scratch the bricks.

3. Take a mortar rake and dig out loose mortar in the joints (figure B). Clear away loosened mortar with a chisel.

4. Sweep and vacuum loose debris up as you go to keep the dust down.

5. Wet wall with spray bottle. It's important to keep the bricks nice and wet so the new mortar will cure properly. If the bricks are dry, they will leach the moisture out of the new mortar.

6. Mix cement, lime and sand together to create your mortar. Mix all ingredients in a mixing barrel. Just add ingredients, screw on the top and roll the barrel back and forth to mix (figure C).

7. Add liquid once dry ingredients are mixed and roll the barrel some more to mix up your mortar.

8. Moisten your plywood hawk and load it up with mortar. Hold the hawk against the wall and use a long, thin trowel to pack mortar into joints (figure D).

9. Continue until the entire wall is finished. Use a flat, pointed trowel to clean mortar off face of bricks.

10. Spray the joints with water every day for about a week so the mortar cures slowly and doesn't crack.