Art of Lime Mortar Pointing, traditional bricklaying methods

[@dannyboy9817]

Cracking job done with care and attention to detail. Your customer must be over the moon. House looks like it should again.

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Cheers danny 🤝😁 They loved it mate, they asked me to do the back yard wall too. It does look much better like 😍

[@JoshuaSHogg]

Cigarettes and cigars are standard for this type of work. The neighbors love the grinder dust. I always let homeowners know its good plant food and excellent base coat for a car detail. Props to you for managing the site because normal people don’t know hard it’s to keep a site like that from being a muddy mess.

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Keeping the site clean is super important, on any job in fact, not just this one. Yeah, letting the neighbours know prior is always a must so they know what to expect when work starts 👌 keep it clean for your customer and the neighbours

[@Benzknees]

Doesn't water p*** in to the interior when using a jet washer on raked out mortar to a solid wall?

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Its not on there for long enough mate 🙂

[@SheenaRea]

I'm getting ready to repoint parts of my house which is 75 years old. The mortar is a lime blend, and I sure wish my dad were here to tell me the exact mix he used when building it. Thanks so much for this very good video! 🧱👍

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

You are very welcome Sheena 🙂 I hope you get on well with the pointing, give me a shout on Insta if you need a chat about it 👍🙂

[@SteveJones-gz4vd]

I get my lime motar pre mixed, just needs knocking up from Ty Mawr lime in bBreacon

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Cheers mate I’l check that out 🙂

[@anthonymclean9743]

Looks fantastic that mate , a proper job well done meaning that brickwork will look great for another 100 years 👌

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Appreciate that mate thank you 🙂🤝 thats it man, leaving a mark on a building for another 100yrs and restoring another brickys work after all them years to what it was. It’s a good feeling 🙂

[@mussie302]

That pointing looks brilliant.

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Thank you 🙂

[@pnowikow]

Looks great I had no idea the amount of work there was involved

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Thank you mate, really appreciate that 🤝🙂 Yeah it’s slow and time consuming work for sure. Take the time, get it right and leave the property better than it was when you arrived 🙂

[@gk4874]

Hi Craig, Great work. How did you find the irwin tool compared to the disk? Looking for a comment on speed vs dust.

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

The irwin is a great tool. I only use that to go around the joint to get the bits the disk wont get though. Like the top & bottom of the perps 👌

[@stevemcilroy.62]

Top man Craig. Do you ever work in the sun? Rain follows you around lol.

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Lmfao mate 😂 i think you could be right

[@TheNorthernmunky]

Awesome work Craig, great video

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Cheers mate i appreciate it man 🤝✊🙂 glad you enjoyed it ✊

[@richardcarter3246]

Hi I would have loved to have seen the lime mortar after a week or two once fully dry/set as it really looks great. Have you ever done all the perps first to couple m2 and then the bed joint or not worth it? Brilliant raking out 🤩

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Thank you richard 🙂 yeah i’ve done it in the past that way bit prefer beds first. Seems the perps fall out better when the bed isnt above/ below 👌

[@rogerknowles4217]

Thank you for sharing your valuable knowledge! Job looks amazing!

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Your very welcome Roger and thank you I really appreciate the compliment 🤝🙂

[@bricklayersworldwithandy6277]

You can get a housing for the mortar rakes, gives you a bit more control and the option for dust extraction.

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Cheers Andy, appreciate you dropping by mate 🙂 yeah, we had got one for this job. We had the wrong bits for our grinder though and didn’t work. The company quickly send another one out to us though and we used it on the customers back wall 🙂 I really rate them like. Do you use them Andy?

[@bricklayersworldwithandy6277]

@@CraigToddBrickwork Yes mate, been using them for years on softer stuff, the only fault i find with them is the rakes are to long for me and rake out a bit deep. Ime using one today will be in my next vid 👍

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

sorry for a massive delayed reply andy. I've just found the filter on here that shows comments on comments. I've just ben replying to the notifications and wondering why i dont get a reply back haha. I know now any way. I'l have to take a look at your vid mate, love your content andy, i just dont have two bloody minutes to do anything at the minute. what do you mean the rakes are to long? as in the devil tooth rake or the disk?

[@AliceLouiseDevelopments]

Looks great! Top job working with NHL 5 too! That’s the stuff I’d go for right by the sea 👍

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Thank you 😃 I’m glad you agree too 🤙

[@Wheresthelambsauce4]

How come you point the purps after? I've always done it first. I'm glad Im not the only one who spends time on the tops and tails, looks crisp that aswell! 🤟🔥

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

I like the get the bed in first because i feel like its easier to get the perps after and the hold better to the beds 🙂 Cheers mate

[@jazzyjeff1516]

If a house is cavity wall, would you recommend using sand and cement mix when repointing?

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Its down to what the house has been built with mate, if its lime use lime and cement on cement 🙂

[@CarlWatson-z7z]

Thanks for that; inspiring! I bought an angle grinder and ripped out all of the old pointing, including portland cement crap put in later, enjoying it but and will repair the garden wall. I have a bigger retaining wall around the house. Are you interested in a job in Darlington?

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

It’s a tedious mate but I do agree it can be enjoyable ☺️ we mix our projects up so we have variety and dont end up getting board 🤣 that said we’ve been pointing non stop for the past 5-6 weeks haha. Yeah mate, just drop me a message or call me about the wall. We are up in Newcastle but do travel 🙂

[@Pavlo_S.V.]

Hello Great work and nicely done Wanted to ask, in your opinion is possible to use cement (for better setting) with hydrated lime and sand (0,5:1:5 ratio) for rendering a brick wall layed with lime mortar, as it is quite difficult to find hydraulic lime in our region? Or even small amounts of cement will trap moisture, make wall unbreathable and ruin the bricks? Thank you

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Anything like this mate I’d normally ask a good mate of ours for advice, check out Tominay Stone on Insta, he will have some great advice for you mate. We have used hydrated lime in the past and yes you are right with the sand. No hydraulic lime. When we use hydrated the do a 6:1:1 mix or 5:1:1:1 👍 We dont have any local suppliers to us either for our lime. We order ours online from a company called Conserv - www.Lime-mortars.co.uk They deliver in a few days too mate & its good stuff 🙂 Hope that helps mate.

[@mattyhayes7204]

Can you use 3/1 sand and lim without the sharp? Or did you just add sharp for the aesthetic purpose of showing stone in the joints ?

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

you can matty, you don't need the sharp in the mix. If the original has sharp in, it's best to put it in your mix though :)

[@davidbridgewater4670]

You shouldn't really use building sand on its own it has a high clay content. You could do a 2 parts wash sharp with a washed building sand.

[@Charlie-d4e]

Hi Craig, how do you get bit of lime stains off the brickwork? I've seen you washing down with a sponge do you use anything else on it? Thanks

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Yeah the sponge does the job mate, the next day or two a wet sponge works well too 🙂

[@scandiifps5230]

Trying to get my own repointing business up and running I’ve got heritage in it and love watching these videos but I will ask how come you’ve used 5 nhl the hydrocity goes off way to quick in my opinion. Do you just use it because you’ll normally have more dongers on the job trying to point it in faster ? Or is just easier for you to brush off quicker whilst working on it?

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Great question mate, we used 5.0 because the property is right on the sea front. Just smaller batch’s of compo, its only me pointing so just plodding along 🙂 All the best with your business mate always happy to help if I can 👍

[@ggss1176]

Excellent video mate. What is rough estimate for that job? Thanks

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Thanks mate 🙂 I really cant remember now mate it was a few months back this one. We would be at between £100 - £150 pm2 plus scaffolding, go £125 @ around around 16m2 £2,400 all in. It’s much more than sand and cement pointing because the process is much longer mate. I should have probably spoken about it in the video tbh, but for an example, keeping the new compo damp is important so it doesn’t crack, spongeing the joints down to bring out the sharp sand. I do that on the same day it goes in before I leave for the day and the next day before starting I get a wet sponge on it too 🙂 a couple examples mate 🤝 hope it helps

[@ggss1176]

@@CraigToddBrickwork Thanks for the extra information that's very helpful. I see from your work that you really go above and beyond to do a proper & thorough job👍👍👍

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

@@ggss1176 your welcome mate, I believe in always doing more than you’ve been asked, obviously not hundreds of brick or something like that but you get what I am saying. Leave a job better than it was when you arrived 🙂

[@Chriscarper]

Lovely job, how long do you leave it before sponging please? I take it that's the finishing touch, thanks

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Yeah mate the sponge is the finishing touch 👌 you can go back to it the next day and it’l be good to sponge 🙂

[@Chriscarper]

@@CraigToddBrickwork thanks mate

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Your welcome, anytime 🙂

[@lloydbowen557]

Hi Craig if you want a flush finish, would you use a scrap bit of timber to rub across the joints?

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Yes mate, that finish looks lovely 🤩

[@JimBob-vg2og]

What’s that electric tool you are using to remove the old muck called? - new to this, cheers

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Its a mortar raking disk on my 4 1:2” grinder 🙂 i’ve got them all listen on my amazon store, the link is in my linktree link on my profile page 🙂

[@Charlie-d4e]

Got a 1895 buikding, look like sharp in the back, can you just use 3 sharp and 1 lime. Im using 3.5nhl

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Its not something I’ve done to be honest mate, we always have soft sand in the mix, 3 soft,1 sharp & 1nhl

[@TheLordoftheNorth]

Do you have a link to where you bought that hawk?

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Yeah mate, its in my linktree link on the channel home page 🙂 its on the amazon link & it’l be under pointing tools 👍

[@jimbow2310]

Nice video whats the hawk called?

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Cheers Jim 🤝 Kubala i think mate, it’s just a cheepy from amazon. 30 quid for the hawk and 3 steamers 6,8 & 10mm

[@jonmcgill533]

Hey Craig, Interesting and informative/instructional video, So I'm gonna go with a BIG WOW mate.👏👏 Yer shoulda gone for yer cold dip while you were there.👍❤

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Cheers man jon 🙂 always appreciate your kind comments mate 🤝 Ohhh aye, the north sea is brutally cold 😍

[@jonmcgill533]

@@CraigToddBrickwork Went to Filey a few yrs ago did same and it was Feb upto me chest what a fookin shock to the system 🤣❤

[@jonmcgill533]

Had to do a long bear crawl down the beach to warm after lol, got loadsa weird looks.🤣😍

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

@@jonmcgill533 haha yeah man, its that initial shock man isn’t it. The key is to do some breathing before hand and once your in there concentrate on your breathing. Once your breath is controlled it becomes easier to stand the cold. The shock is the panic your brain is saying this is not right, get out. Once you breath and relax you brain stops freaking out 🤣 Easy wrote on paper though 😆

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

@@jonmcgill533 lmao, i had the same when I went in the sea up here mate 🤣

[@Liam-h3v]

Hello mate, thanks for the video. Im trying to expand into lime pointing myself but was wondering how i go about pricing up? How much do you guys charge for lime pointing per metre? Any advice would be appreciated, thanks. Liam

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Your welcome mate 🙂 drop me a IG message, always happy to help 🤝

[@stevenheath4109]

is the mix 3 soft , 1 sharp , 1 cement and 1 lime ?

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Sure I mentioned in the video mate, unsure now to be honest, may have been 5 soft, 1 sharp & 1 lime. No cement in the mix, NHL lime is hydraulic lime which needs air to go off. If you use hydraulic lime, thats the lime which needs cement to go off 🙂

[@Stuartgerwyn]

My understanding is that using lime instead of cement & sand allows the wall to 'breathe.' But what about the old sand & cement mortar that's still in there. Doesn't that prevent the wall from breathing anyway? Genuine query as I'm thinking about using lime to point the house.

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Great question, if a lime built house is pointed with sand and cement you just rake that out. It’l be raked out back to the original lime mortar so your new lime pointing will be going on top of lime 🙂 if your raking out a sand and cement built house you just repoint with sand and cement 👌 Hope that helps 🙂

[@matthewingham7806]

​@CraigToddBrickwork hi mate what mix did you use And how long do you leave it before you finish it

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

it was a 3 building sand 1 sharp sand & 1 lime mix & we left it until the end of the day to finish it on this one :)

[@mattbarber1987]

Everything I've seen online seems to indicate you've got to keep hessian over the fresh lime mortar for a period of time. Different lengths of time depending on the weather. Is there a reason you've not used hessian to protect it / retain moisture etc?

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

your right matt, you should cover your lime with hessian to prevent the weather getting to it. We just didn't video this part

[@samphil27]

Couldn't you do that low front wall while you were there? ;)

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

🙂🙂

[@IanIan-cj7dj]

How long for 1 man to grind out the joints on a house that size thanks

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Probably 2 days max

[@IanIan-cj7dj]

@@CraigToddBrickwork cheers, and u suppose 2 days for 1 man to point it

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Probably 3

[@IanIan-cj7dj]

@@CraigToddBrickwork i have a front to do and there electricity wires going to the front of the house, how do u handle them,😅😅

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

I dont 😂 do you mean the ones up at the gutters? If so it’s upto the customer to have them insulated, you know the yellow plastic stuff you see around them. I think its free for the customer too. Not 100% on that though

[@julianantony4435]

The paint remover you couldnt remember is Peelaway from Barrettine

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Thats the stuff 🙂

[@teocastelvecchi]

What type of lime do you use/ great video, but every turtorial i see seems to miss lots of key information.

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Nhl 5.0 was used in this video, the property is right by the north sea 👍

[@TheSoSoLondoN]

We bought lime but it is very white. Yours is yellow ish how come? Thank you

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Our soft sand is yellow. Also there is a wide choice in limes. We use Sencil lime for this job 🙂

[@paulpurves484]

Very tidy job

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Thank you paul

[@MarkKidsley1989]

wow, wish you were closer to nottingham, id employ you

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Cheers for that mate 🤝🙂

[@VIRENDRASHARMA0]

Wow😘

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Thank you mate 😁

[@Guvnor100]

Hello mate, I'm really interested in what you say but can barely hear you speaking. Would be a good idea to get some mics. Subbed

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Thanks mate, really I appreciate your sub 🙂 I know man, I had a mic on too 🤦‍♂️ it was broken and we didn’t realise until looking back on the footage. Really gutted about that I am, since got a new set of mics which I think starts after this video 😁 Tried my best to adjust the audio in the edits but it really didn’t want to play 😔

[@Lecia-lithium]

Mistake 1: Pointing with anything over NHL 3.5 [even close to shore] Mistake 2: Sealing wall even knowing the adverse effects of such product on solid wall brickwork Mistake 3: Posting this on youtube

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Ok

[@cristoff3]

mate....cannot hear a word being said. Music too loud and it seems the microphone is no good

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Sorry mate, the quality is really crap. It wasn’t until i sat down to edit it i realised it was broke 🤦‍♂️

[@johnscott4100]

the problem is when you talk and have your back turned to the camera I can't hear a word you say.

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Thanks for the feedback john. Its quite an old video in the early days of my content. Stepped it up quite a bit since then & invested in a decent mic 👌

[@ChrisCM23]

Good vid. But no mask while pouring lime 😮 And no gloves much of the time… this stuff is highly caustic isn’t it?

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Yes mate its advisable to use the right ppe

[@horserider9578]

Why on earth are you using nhl 5 go on to any heritage site and they will tell you thats way to strong its more likely used on sea defences not repointing a house .

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

this house is 200 metres from the sea front. I often speak with mates who are stone masons, they also advised 5.0

[@jiblet46]

Nice job,can’t hear a word yours saying.

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Cheers mate and yeah i know man, the mic was knackard. Gutted, everything after this video though we used a new one 😁

[@macoveim2001]

Stormdry is not breathable !!! My wall is moldy now 2 years after I aplyed it

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Was the pointing the correct pointing? May be a factor. As for your issue I’ve never heard of it nit working or creating issues like yours 🙂

[@MrAlexshellard]

Hey dude looks cracking! Take a look at this if your using lime "Functional Behaviour of Traditional Lime Mortars", opened my eyes a bit to how it works. Im going to be doing the same just over the river in the spring on both my walls. The stuff in a cans going to cause some issues. Lime uses a liquid phase not vapour to get the water out, needs lime in contact with the air to work. Anything non lime is basically going to undo that lovely repointing and plug it like Portland. Only real way to get more protection and water out is with a lime wash. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5mQhKyVaNp8jac

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Thanks mate i’l check that out 🙂

[@AaronKidd-n4l]

Made more dust on that then I do over 20 jobs buy a hover

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

We have one now, we use the mavac dv35 m class. Ideal

[@lucaswegrzyn1603]

Good job, but protect your eyes from it.

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Cheers mate 🙂 Indeed, its important & often overlooked/ forgotten about

[@lucaswegrzyn1603]

I had multifinish once in my eye, spent 6h at A&E. All ok now. But lime is even more dangerous to our eyes.

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

ouchh mate, sounds nasty that. Your spot on though :)

[@jamester1978]

Mumbles

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Cheers

[@rymoe6299]

Nice jacket and Trainers to work on 😂🫵🏼 Hey how do they get the mortor white in historic buildings

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Cheers mate 🙂 Its not something I’ve done to be honest mate, but it’s white cement, lime and white sand I believe. www.lime-mortars.co.uk/lime-mortar/hydraulic/nhl-3.5/white-morn-scarr/25kg that website has a load of different lime mortars too mate 👍

[@jackrigney7615]

No cement is ever used White sand and lime putty for the tuck pointing .

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Thanks mate 🙂 i’ve never done it before but would love to work on a job where I can. What is the pricing for something like that?

[@jackrigney7615]

@@CraigToddBrickwork I do it here in Dublin so prices are different As we use euro Expensive though around 300 m2

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

@jackrigney7615 thanks mate, yeah I’d say it would be much more than std pointing. 🙂

[@darrengoodwin9819]

Only joking mush. I deleted it.. you do great job..... can I use hydraulic lime on any wall that has damp issues?

[@CraigToddBrickwork]

Cheers mate. We use lime on lime built walls and cement on newer brickworkn👌