Bricks are incredibly durable, but the mortar holding them together isn’t. Mortar can fail over time primarily due to repeated freeze-thaw cycles, which cause moisture in the mortar joints to freeze and then expand, creating cracks and spalling. When mortar fails, tuckpointing can help.
Brickworks Property Restoration has over 20 years of experience handling the unique challenges of commercial tuckpointing. You can trust our team for exceptional communication and coordination with third parties, compliance with strict building codes, accurate material matching, even for historic buildings, and long-lasting results.
Benefits
- Restored Safety: Tuckpointing ensures your building can shed water and bear loads effectively.
- Better Weatherproofing: Fresh mortar prevents water infiltration, protecting not just your building’s exterior but also interior walls and insulation.
- Improved Energy Efficiency: Sealing large cracks in your mortar helps prevent cool air from escaping in the summer and warm air from escaping in the winter.
- Enhanced Aesthetics: Fresh mortar, especially when matched well, restores clean lines and encourages aesthetic uniformity.
- Cost-Effective: If mortar deterioration isn’t addressed quickly, it increases the risk of water damage and resulting costly repairs.
Our Capabilities
Brickworks Property Restoration proudly services property management companies, government spaces, historical landmarks, churches, and industrial buildings across the metro Detroit area. Our capabilities include:
- Historic restorations
- On-site custom mortar mixing and color matching
- Comprehensive inspections to assess mortar condition and recommended repairs
- Mortar removal
Our Process
Brickworks Property Restoration is committed to customer satisfaction. Throughout our process, you can trust us to keep you updated during every stage, swiftly address potential challenges, and ensure you get results that last for years to come.
- On-Site Evaluation: Our experts will assess the condition of your building and mortar to determine the best restoration approach.
- On-Site Mixing: We mix custom mortar on-site to ensure it matches the color of your existing mortar, ensuring uniformity.
- Mortar Removal & Site Preparation: Our commercial tuckpointing team uses grinders, chisels, and other specialized tools to carefully remove old, deteriorated mortar and clean the surface in preparation for new mortar.
- Applying New Mortar: We’ll then apply the new mortar, focusing on restoring both the functionality and aesthetic beauty of your brickwork.
- Final Walkthrough: One of our team members will review our work with you to ensure it meets your expectations.
Does Your Business Need Tuckpointing?
Your commercial building likely needs tuckpointing if you’ve noticed any of the following:
- Cracks: Bricks can shift over time due to temperature fluctuations and the freeze-thaw cycle, and when this happens, cracks or separations can appear in the masonry.
- General Mortar Damage: Beyond cracks, if you’ve noticed spalling (flaking or peeling) or mortar falling out of the joints, your mortar has already begun to deteriorate and will only worsen over time.
- Moisture Infiltration: Cracks and gaps allow water to seep through the brickwork, leading to interior water damage, mold, and in severe cases, structural damage.
- Discoloration: Mortar should be beige, so if you’ve noticed stains, fading color, or any unusual colors like dark green or black, your mortar is deteriorating.
Featured Project: University of Detroit Mercy
This project involved comprehensive masonry restoration and waterproofing across a historic university campus. Our team carefully managed access, material compatibility, and historic preservation standards. The result: Enhanced structure, appearance, and long-term water resistance. The project involved tuckpointing 170 LF limestone and 60 LF brick, patching 50 square feet of limestone, sealing control joints, applying silicone waterproofing, removing efflorescence and cleaning brick, and installing a Xypex Crystallization system for advanced interior waterproofing.