The mortar joints between bricks and stones can become porous with age, allowing rainwater to penetrate to the inside. This can cause damp patches to appear on interior walls and ruin decorations. The ...

DEAR TIM: I’ve just placed an offer to purchase a two-bedroom house. It’s an older building, probably close to 70 or more years old. After placing the offer, I then took a closer look around the ...

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the typical U.S. family spends close to $1,300 a year on their home’s utility bills. Small leaks around the house often waste a lot of that energy. There ...

Q. I need to repair the mortar joints on my older brick home that was built in the late 1800s. I’ve seen some horrible workmanship where the mortar doesn’t match at all, and I want to avoid this. How ...

Brick and mortar is a solid building material, but it won't last forever. Here are the basics for "tuckpointing", the process of repairing and rebuilding a brick wall. The mortar and cement holding ...

Dear Tim: I have a lovely brick patio that has mortar between the brick. After pressure-washing it this past weekend, I noticed several locations where the mortar has disintegrated. Most of the mortar ...

Q: My 10-year-old house developed some cosmetic cracks in the mortar. I got some bids to have tuck-pointing work done and nearly gagged. I'm wondering about using a special caulk I found that's made ...

Dear James: The mortar between the wall bricks is crumbling in spots and looks bad. How can I repair it so that it does not look much different from the existing mortar joints? — Nick R. Dear Nick: It ...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. As the weather starts to change, cracks in stone and paver walkways can begin to be more of a problem. Moisture can work its way into any cracks in ...

If properly designed and constructed, brick masonry can be highly durable and tends to demand little in the way of routine repairs. However, it is still important to conduct regular inspection of the ...

Q: My house was built in the '40s and has a cinder-block foundation. On the inside, it has paint that's peeling. Some of the blocks are crumbling, but the problem is not deep, less than an inch. In ...