Recently we completed a project in Center City Philadelphia which required us to waterproof both the front and the back of the property. The front of the property, consisting of bricks, was recently pointed about five years ago. But the issue with the pointing was that the contractor failed to remove the original joints and simply skimmed mortar over the existing mortar. The newly thinned mortar joints were already failing and falling out, and even aesthetically, the joints didn’t bring out the beauty of the colonial front. When pricing out a job, many customers will tell us that they received prices that were very different from one another. Some of the prices may be just under two thousand dollars, while the other prices were over four and five thousand. The reason for this discrepancy is the process and the amount of work each contractor will put in to complete the job. Using the example above, this contractor’s price for a two story pointing project was a few hundred under two thousand. But what did he do? Not much. He was able to set up his scaffold or swing stage and begin pointing in the same day. Our process calls for us to use the first day in itself just to prep the property. We start by setting up our scaffold, covering all the windows and doors including light fixtures and other items not to be damaged with plastic, and we wrap our scaffold with a shield to control as much dust as possible. We spend the next day or two cutting out the original mortar joints so that the new joint will be able to rest inside the brick void properly and this will also have a structural purpose as well, securing the brick in tightly once again. Obtaining a consistent color of the mortar is easier when you cut the joints out to an even depth rather than pointing on top of the original joint which will not only be very thin, but also at different depths which effects the appearance. The next day for us to is to power wash the front, removing all dust and debris while bringing out the original color of the brick. Then we finally begin the pointing process. It normally takes us two to three days of prep work even before we begin the pointing process, while other companies will already be finished with their much cheaper and less effective method. Once the pointing is completed, we then waterproof the front which keeps the bricks and the new mortar joints free from water absorption and prolongs the life of the front as well. So remember, when taking on a brick pointing project the process of the contractor will reflect in the pricing and also in the amount of work being done. Our process is more expensive, but will last many more years and will leave your property aesthetically restored while free from any water damage.
