Tuckpointing in Gilroy CA - New mortar joints that keep water out of your walls
Crumbling or cracked mortar between your bricks lets water in. We cut out the worn joints and refill them with mortar matched to your wall.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free on-site estimates.
- Replies within 1 business day.
Does my brick house in Gilroy need tuckpointing?
Tuckpointing, which masons also call repointing, is cutting the worn mortar out of the joints between your bricks and filling them with new mortar. On a brick house or wall in Gilroy, it renews the joints that wear out first, so the brick around them can stay right where it is.
Most people call us because they've found sandy grit on a windowsill or a joint they can poke a key into, and they want to know if it's serious before spending money. The price moves with how much of the wall needs new joints, how high we have to work and whether any bricks need replacing first. The schedule turns on that same brick work, plus time for a color sample to dry so you can judge it fairly. I put your own figure in a written estimate once I've seen the wall. You may also hear tuckpointing used for an old decorative style with a thin contrasting line of mortar shaped on top of a flush joint, but that's rarely what people call us about.
How can you tell your mortar joints are wearing out?
Joints sitting back from brick
When the mortar has worn down so the joints look like shallow grooves, the wall is losing the part that sheds water. Left alone, rain sits in those grooves and works deeper every year, and a repair that could have covered a few rows grows to the whole wall.
Mortar that crumbles to sand
If you can scrape a joint out with a key or you find gritty mortar piled on sills and ledges, that mortar is at the end of its life. Waiting lets bricks loosen in their beds, and loose bricks turn a joint job into a bigger repair.
Hairline cracks in joints or bricks
Fine cracks or small holes in the mortar let water straight in, and cracks that run through the bricks too usually mean the wall has been taking stress or water for a while. That's the time to have someone look, because water inside a wall can show up later as stains, flaking brick or damp spots indoors.
How we handle tuckpointing on your wall
Before we cut out a single joint, I check whether the wall really needs it, because some joints just look dirty and plenty of old mortar has years left in it. If it does need work, I look for why the joints failed and plan to fix that too, since new mortar won't hold up over the same leak. Then we lay a small test patch of mortar somewhere out of sight so you can see the color next to your old joints once it's dry. When you're happy with it, our crew grinds the old mortar out, brushes and blows the dust from the joints, dampens them so the brick doesn't pull the water out of the new mix too fast, packs in fresh mortar and tools each joint to the shape of the old ones.
Tuckpointing often turns up other work. When bricks are cracked or their faces are flaking, they come out and get replaced as part of brick repair before we repoint around them. And if the front of the house is getting some attention, we also lay driveway pavers.
Spot repointing
This suits a wall that's mostly sound but has trouble in one area, like under a downspout or along the side of a chimney. It costs less than doing the whole wall, and the test patch matters most here because the new joints sit right beside the old ones.
Full wall repointing
This makes sense when the mortar has worn out across most of the wall, which is common as a house gets older. It's a bigger job, but every joint ends up the same age and color, so you're not chasing the next bad patch a few years later.
Get a written tuckpointing estimate for your brick
We reply within one business day to set a time. I come out, look over your joints with you and give you a written estimate that's free and obligation-free.
(669) 205-6449- Based in
- Gilroy, CA 95020
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–10 PM, Sat–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM
What happens after you call us about tuckpointing?
Here's how a tuckpointing job goes from your first call to the last walk-around, and who you'll be talking to at each step.
Call or send us a message
Call (669) 205-6449 or use the form and tell us roughly where the trouble is and how old the house is. We'll set a time for me to come see it.
I walk the wall with you
I point at what I'm seeing, tell you whether it needs repointing and what I'd do about the cause, then put it all in a written estimate. You get the scope, the fix for the cause and the price in writing before anything starts, so you can compare it with anyone else you're talking to.
Our crew repoints the wall
Our lead mason runs the crew that does the work, and I check in while it's going. When it's done, I walk the finished wall with you and point out what to keep an eye on.
Why Gilroy homeowners call Quality Gilroy Concrete and Masonry for tuckpointing
I write your estimate myself
The person who looks at your wall and writes the estimate is me, and I keep checking in once the crew starts. That way the person who told you what the job needs is the one making sure it gets done that way.
Repointing older brick since 2021
We've been in business since 2021, and repointing and repair on older brick is what we're best known for, which fits the older brick houses we see so often around Gilroy. Before I worked on a crew, I sold brick and mortar at a supply yard and kept hearing what went wrong after it left, so I know what to ask about your wall.
Licensed and fully insured, just ask
We're licensed and fully insured, and I'm glad to show you when I come out. Ask the same of anyone you're thinking of hiring before they set a ladder against your house.
The joints are the part you see, but the water behind them is the part that matters, so start with an honest look. Send us a message or call, and I'll come take one.
Tuckpointing and brick repair on older Gilroy buildings
A lot of the brick we repoint around Gilroy is on older buildings, and some of those may be on a historic list. The state points owners to the National and California Register lists, and your local planning department is usually the best place to find local lists, so if your building is old, it's worth checking before work starts. We're based in Gilroy and work in the cities around it, and we see the same kind of older brick on jobs in San Martin and Morgan Hill.
A local news report described downtown Gilroy buildings made of unreinforced masonry, brick with no reinforcing to brace it in an earthquake, that were going through major seismic retrofits. New joints keep water out, but they don't brace a wall, so if your building is old brick with no reinforcing, I'll tell you when that's a bigger question than tuckpointing.
Questions about tuckpointing in Gilroy
(669) 205-6449Your wall likely needs repointing when the mortar has worn back more than a quarter inch from the face of the brick, is crumbling, shows hairline cracks or small holes, or when bricks are cracking along with the joints. Any one of those is a reason to have the wall looked at soon, and a mason's look in person settles whether it really needs the work.
Mortar lasts roughly 25 to 50 years, while the brick itself lasts about 100 years or more. That's why repointing is normal upkeep on a brick house, since it renews the joints and leaves the brick in place.
It can come very close, because the color of mortar comes mostly from the sand and the type of cement, which is why we lay that test patch first. A good match also means strength, since new mortar should be equal to or weaker than the old, and harder mortar puts stress on old brick until the faces start flaking off. One trade group says Type O mortar is often used to repoint older brick, while Type N may suit newer brick.
The state's Contractors State License Board has a masonry contractor classification that covers masonry walls and fences laid with or without mortar, plus the cleaning and caulking that go along with masonry work. Ask anyone you're thinking of hiring what license they hold for the job.
I price tuckpointing from your own wall, so your real number comes in the written estimate after I've seen it. Patching one bad area costs less than repointing a whole house, a tall wall that needs scaffolding costs more than one we can reach from the ground, and catching worn joints before bricks crack keeps brick replacement off the bill.
Stains, flaking brick, failing joints, damp inside the house and mold usually trace back to water getting into the wall somewhere, so the fix is finding where it starts and correcting that along with the damage you can see. New mortar by itself won't stop it if the water is coming from above or behind the wall, so that's the first thing I look for.
Related masonry work for brick houses
Brick repair
Cracked, loose or flaking bricks need replacing before new joints go in around them, or the fresh mortar ends up holding a bad brick in place.
Driveway pavers
A paver driveway gives the front of a brick house a finished look, and we pick colors and patterns that sit well beside the brick you already have.
Tuckpointing service areas around Gilroy
Quality Gilroy Concrete and Masonry is based in Gilroy, CA, and does tuckpointing in the 12 cities listed below, including Hollister and Watsonville. These are the cities with their own page, and we work in others nearby too.
Gilroy, CA
Get your mortar joints looked at
Snap a couple of photos of the worst joints and note your building's age before you call (669) 205-6449 or send the form, so I know what I'm walking up to.