Tuckpointing in Redondo Beach CA - mortar joints that suit your brick and keep water out
Crumbling or sunken mortar between your bricks? We clear out the worn joints and repack them with mortar that suits the wall.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free quotes on site.
- Replies within 1 business day.
Does my brick wall need tuckpointing, and what's involved?
Tuckpointing, which most of us in the trade also call repointing, is when we clear the worn mortar out of the joints in your brick and pack in fresh mortar, so a wall or chimney in Redondo Beach holds together and sheds water again.
Most people call me after they've noticed sandy mortar at the foot of a wall or joints that have sunk back from the brick, and they want to know if the wall is in trouble. Usually it's the mortar that's tired and not the brick. The price turns on how much wall there is, how high it goes, how deep the joints are worn and how closely the new mortar has to match the old. The schedule mostly depends on the permit check with your city and on dry weather while the new mortar sets. The estimate gives you the figure for your own wall.
How can you tell your mortar joints are wearing out?
Joints sunk behind the brick
When the mortar sits back from the brick face and leaves a little ledge, weather has worn it away. Water sits on that ledge and works into the wall, and the deeper it goes the more mortar we have to cut out.
Mortar that rubs to sand
If you can rub a joint with your finger and it turns to sand, the mortar has lost its grip and isn't holding the bricks tight anymore. Leave it long enough and bricks start to loosen, which turns a repointing job into a rebuild.
Cracks and holes in joints
Hairline cracks or small holes along the joints let rain straight into the wall. Sometimes it's just age and sometimes something is moving, so I'd want a close look before anyone fills them.
How we do tuckpointing on your wall
Before we touch a whole wall, we put a small test patch in a spot you won't notice, so you can see the new joints next to the old ones and say yes or no first. That matters because sand color and the kind of cement both change the color of finished mortar, and it's far easier to adjust a patch than a wall. Once you're happy, we rake the worn mortar out until we reach sound mortar, clean the joints, pack the new mortar in and shape each joint's face to match the ones you already have. Hand tools suit small areas, while grinders clear a big wall faster but can chip the brick edges, so I'll tell you which I'd use on your wall and why. We mix the mortar to suit your old wall rather than make it as hard as we can, for a reason I go over in the questions below.
If some bricks are cracked or flaking, we replace them as part of brick repair, since fresh joints around a broken brick won't keep water out. And if the wall runs along a driveway that's due for work, we also lay driveway pavers, and it's simpler to plan both at once.
Spot repointing
This suits a wall where the damage is in one area, like the corner that takes the most weather or the joints behind a downspout. We cut out and refill just those joints and blend them in, which keeps the job small.
Full-wall repointing
This suits a wall or chimney where most of the joints are worn, because patching around the good-looking spots ends up uneven. When most of the face is gone, I'll usually steer you this way so the whole wall starts fresh together.
Repointing older brick
This suits older homes and garden walls with soft brick and soft mortar. We go slower and keep the mix soft enough that the new joints don't fight the old brick.
Get a tuckpointing estimate for your wall
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I come out myself, look over the joints and give you a free estimate on site, with no obligation to go ahead.
Call (424) 265-1368What happens when you call us about repointing in Redondo Beach?
Here's how a tuckpointing job goes from your first call to the last joint, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call or send the form
We get back to you and set a time that works for you. Tell us roughly where the worn joints are and whether it's a garden wall, a chimney or the house itself.
I come look at your wall
I come out myself, look at the joints up close and answer whatever you want to ask, however small. You get a price for your wall and what it covers, and I'll go over the mortar I'd use.
We handle permits, then patch
If you go ahead, we sort out the permit steps with your city or county office. Then we put in the test patch and wait for your okay before doing the rest.
Our crew repoints, I check
Our crew does the work with me checking it as it goes, so anything that's off gets caught while they're still on that section. If opening the joints turns up something that changes the job, the change goes in writing first, as California requires for home improvement contracts.
Why Redondo Beach homeowners call us for tuckpointing
A repair has to suit the wall it's going into, and that starts with me seeing yours. Ask for an estimate or call (424) 265-1368.
I give the estimate myself
I come out to look at your wall and price it, and I'm back on site checking the crew's work while it's done. You talk to the same person from the first visit to the last joint.
Repointing and brick repair since 2017
We've been in business since 2017, and careful repointing and brick repair are what we're best known for. A crew that does this work often knows how slowly it has to go to keep the brick edges clean.
Licensed and fully insured crew
We're licensed and fully insured, and the people working on your wall are our own crew. That matters when ladders and scaffolding go up against your house.
Based in Redondo Beach
We're based in Redondo Beach and work across the cities around it, and most of our calls come from homeowners here who've spotted crumbling joints. The walls we see most are the same kind as yours.
Tuckpointing and brick repair in Redondo Beach
Redondo Beach's Building & Safety office issues building permits, and the way to find out whether your repointing job needs one is to call them at (310) 318-0636. The same line answers questions about permit fees, and if a permit is needed, the city requires a Waste Management Plan with it. If your house or wall has historical significance, the city's historic preservation program has its own landmark designation and review, so that's worth raising on the same call. Before work starts we check those steps with the city, and when the job needs a permit we take care of it.
Around here we mostly repoint garden walls, planters, chimneys and the brick on older homes, and the joints that go first are usually the ones facing the weather or sitting in sprinkler spray. We see the same on jobs in Torrance and Hermosa Beach, so I'm looking for the same things wherever your wall is.
Questions about tuckpointing in Redondo Beach
How do I know if my brick needs repointing?
Your brick needs repointing when the mortar has worn back more than 1/4 inch, crumbles when you touch it, or shows holes or cracks. You can check for those signs yourself before you call, and a photo of the worst spot helps me a lot.
How much does tuckpointing or repointing brick cost?
Across the US, tuckpointing or repointing brick usually costs about $500 to $2,500 per 100 square feet. That's the general market range, not our price, and walls tall enough to need scaffolding cost more per square foot than low ones. Your own figure comes from the estimate once I've seen the wall.
Can a stronger mortar damage my brick?
Yes, because new mortar should be similar to the old mortar in strength or weaker, or the face of the brick can flake off, which masons call spalling. It's fair to ask any contractor which mix they plan to use and how it compares with what's in your wall now, and I'm glad to go over mine.
How long does tuckpointing last?
Repointed mortar joints typically last more than 25 years, depending on how exposed the wall is and what it's made of, while the brick itself may last well over 100. So the joints usually wear out long before the bricks do, and repointing is a normal part of keeping a brick wall in shape.
What causes mortar joints to wear out faster in one spot?
It's usually water, from a gutter, a downspout, a sprinkler or soil piled against the wall, and the guidance for brick is to find that source and fix it along with the worn joints. When I look at a wall I check where the water's coming from, because new mortar in a wet spot goes the same way as the old.
Does a contractor need a license for tuckpointing in California?
In most cases yes, because California's exemption for minor work only reaches $1,000, and only when the job needs no permit and the unlicensed person has no employees on it. A repointing job of any real size often runs past that, so ask to see a license before you hire anyone.
Other masonry work that goes with repointing
- Brick repair
When bricks themselves have cracked, flaked or come loose, they need replacing before new joints can do their job, and that's what this service handles.
- Driveway pavers
If the concrete out front is cracked, pavers give your driveway a finish that sits well beside brick, and single pavers can be lifted and reset later.
Cities we serve around Redondo Beach
CJ Redondo Beach Concrete & Masonry is based in Redondo Beach, California, and 12 of the cities we work in have their own page here, including Lomita and Manhattan Beach. These are the cities with a page, not the only places we work, so call if yours isn't listed.
Redondo Beach, CA
Show me the joints that worry you
Have a few photos of the worn joints and the wall's rough size and height handy, so our first conversation gets straight to what your wall needs.