How to fill gaps in bricks?

gemmaco

Hi there,

Looking for some advice please to fill some gaps in and around our windows. 

Additionally, I'd like to fix up an area where it looks like old expandable foam has been used. I've scrapped back what I can, but wondering if I can use more foam on top of it before adding some outdoor sealant. Is that a good idea? 

Thanks so much for your advice! 

JacobZ

Hi @gemmaco,

It looks like the gaps are mainly because you have some fairly empty mortar joints between your bricks. Filling these joints up is referred to as "repointing", and it is fairly common and relatively easy to do.

With a few of the joints, it looks like you might need to remove a bit more mortar to have enough room to effectively repoint them. Generally, you need about 20mm of depth to effectively repoint brick joints, as there needs to be sufficient surface area for the new mortar to adhere to. In areas where you need to remove some mortar, you can use a Masterfinish Small Poly Wheel Raker, or an angle grinder with a diamond wheel.

Once the mortar joints are prepared, you would use a standard mortar and push it into the joints using a pointing trowel or brick jointer such as this Kango 10mm/13mm Brick Jointer, smoothing it out as you go.

Once the mortar joints are filled and dry, you can assess whether there is any additional sealing required. The window has a rubber seal which should sit over the bricks and prevent any water seeping through the seam, but if there are still small gaps that you are concerned with, a bead of Sika 600ml Black Sikaflex 11FC Purform applied beneath that rubber seal would certainly be worthwhile.

Let me know what you think and if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob