How do you know if your masonry needs tuckpointing?

The importance of tuckpointing

You need to be aware that even if your masonry building was made very well and you are still really pleased with its appearance – it can actually needs some renovation. The most common created damage is worn mortar joints (the portion of the cement that you can see from exterior of building) it creates because of the water getting inside of masonry work. To prevent this from happening and to maintain the durability and water-resistant nature of masonry work the needed repair is tuckpointing. Tuckpointing is done to extend the life of your building. It is always necessary at some point and includes the actual process of taking out the old impacted mortar and replacing it with new mortar. It sounds really simple but it is not. Luckily there is a lot of skilled masonry contractors in Chicago that will be happy to help with it.

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Signs that your masonry need tuckpointing

For most building or brickworks you can go even ten decades without needed to tuckpoint, so if you bought an older home or just live in the same location for years you should sometimes look for the indicators that suggest your moasonry building needs repair. The most common sign of deteriorating integrity in the masonry can be a weathered or flakey mortar also if you see cracked or missing mortar – the tuckpointing is definitely recommended to you. Another really importany signal is mismatched coloring in the mortar. When you saw that thing you need to be aware that tuckpointing was already done in the past in a inappropriate way and it should to be re-done. These signs you can simply see but another way to determine if tuckpointing is needed is by taking a key or screwdriver and dragging it across the mortar joint. If it scratches up powdered material, then you know you are a candidate for tuckpointing Arlington Heights. Of course you should do this work sooner rather than later because the problem will get only worst.

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HOW TO FIX CEMENT STEPS?

Try fixing your concrete stairs yourself

Concrete steps and driveways are commonly used in many building entrances due to their durability and undeniable resistance. But even though they can last a long time, especially outdoors they are prone to deterioration due to the changing weather and heavy foot traffic. If you own cement stairs and they are starting to fall apart, you may feel tempted to look for concrete steps repair in Chicago. But even a person with no previous cement experience can handle a repair of concrete steps. It isn’t too complicated and you can get nothing wrong, because you have broken stairs already, haven’t you?

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Concrete steps repair is easier than you think

Let’s get started and clean the stairs – remove old loose cement by chipping it off with a hammer and cold chinsel. Make sure that the surface is as smooth as possible. You can drill some holes and screw tapcon screws, they will act as anchors for the new cement. When you are done with that, you may want to use a bonding adhesive if the new layer of cement is going to be quite thick. The adhesive will make the new layer stick to the old cement. The next move is to make a wood form by cutting a piece of board that is at least the height of the step and as long as the step. Then place the form against the step and secure it in place with some cinder blocks. Prepare all the needed tools to work with concrete before you mix it. You will need a steel trowel, a level, edging tool and a sponge. If you’re ready, mix the concrete following the instructions on the box. When the consistency is like a thick cream, scoop the cement into the form, then level it out with a trowler, round the edges with edging tool and smooth it out with a sponge. Congratulations, you have fixed concrete steps yourself! Driveway concrete Chicago can be fixed the same way!

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Find out more about masonry work!

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It’s the highest time to start our new adventure with some topics that may interest you. From the articles posted on this blog you will learn a lot of necessary information about masonry- what it practically means? You’ll find the answer to this question and many others in the next texts.

If you’re wondering which of the local masonry contractors choose, we will try to do everything in our power to help you make the best decision. We will take into account all aspects such as affordable price, quality of used materials, opinions about these companies and the speed of their work. Cooperation with the masonry contractors will also be an important element which we will check carefully.

There are many questions that can be given a good enough and interesting answer. I would like to show you amont others how to repair masonry cracks or how to build a brick masonry wall. Tuckpointing is another topic that we will use on our blog. If you want to know what methods are exerted by tuckpointing Lombard specialists, be sure to follow our posts!

Encourage everyone to a joint trip on interesting topics of masonry and reviews about it, tuckpointing and guides Do it yourself!