Repointing Portland Dorset (DT5): At some point every building in the Portland area will need some maintenance, whether it's a commercial structure or a domestic home. If the brickwork on your Portland property looks a bit shabby with mortar crumbling or missing, you'll want to act quickly to prevent the situation from deteriorating. A reliable brick repointing company in Portland will provide an efficient solution to repoint your brickwork and make sure that it remains watertight.
The soundness of any property is only as good as its bricks and mortar. To keep a property dry and warm the mortar has to be in good enough condition to stop any dampness or draughts from forcing their way in through gaps or holes. But how do you determine whether or not your home needs to be repointed?
Simply put, you need to inspect your outside walls and check for any visible damage. Repointing work is generally needed if you are able to visually spot some problem areas. In areas which are remote or hidden, such as under eaves or on chimneys; you may need a specialist to assist you, but in the majority of situations you'll be able to see any external signs of deterioration for yourself.
It's not merely that defective mortar looks awful, there are safety issues that can be triggered by this too. Mortar is the "glue" that holds the shape and structure together in any Portland home, and if badly in poor condition can affect the whole integrity of a building. With regards to property damage and injury risks, any weeknesses in the stability of the building can have serious implications, and this is especially so in the case of buildings with chimney stacks or tall properties.
If bricks have been damaged or weakened over the years and are the root cause of problems with your mortar they may need to be replaced. Any defective brickwork identified during the survey by the contractor will be repaired or replaced before any mortar repointing is attempted.
If the external walls of your Portland property have been rendered or painted in the past you may notice areas that are prone to damp or discoloured. Any flaking, cracks or bubbling of paint or render could signify damage to either bricks or mortar under the surface. The only practical way to make sure that the damage does not spread more widely and trigger structural challenges in the future, is to get a certified contractor to carry out a survey. By using this type of service you will be able to keep your home safe, sturdy and looking good.
WHAT STEPS ARE REQUIRED IN REPOINTING BRICKWORK IN PORTLAND?
Depending on the type of property that needs the work, repointing will typically involve working up high, and it can be a fairly long process. To permit a repointing specialist to accurately determine the remedial work that's required on your brickwork they will first have to carry out a visual inspection. As soon as they have looked at all of these details, they'll be in a position to provide you with a quotation for the complete project. You shouldn't automatically assume that the cheapest estimate is the best one, and make sure to get at least three quotations before make up your mind.
It could be that in the initial site survey there were some parts of your home that were inaccessible or out-of-reach and in cases like this a further, more comprehensive survey might be necessary. This second, more stringent survey could expose additional problem areas that may have an impact on the original price quote. Additional work is likely to be required if your home in Portland was built more than 60 years ago and has never undergone repointing.
Once all the troublesome areas have been confirmed and agreed with the property owner, pointing work can begin. In order to have a sturdy working platform while refurbishing your home, the likelihood is that the repointing crew will need to have some sort of scaffolding put up. Some protective shielding can be secured to the outside of the scaffold, when it's been built. The purpose of this is to minimize the danger of harm to people in the surrounding area, and avoid damage to your property from falling debris.
To enable access to all the brickwork, any drainpipes, cabling and conduits that are attached to the wall may have to be removed or adjusted. Once the repointing has been concluded these pipes and cables can all be re-attached.
If the brickwork on your dwelling in Portland is pebble-dashed, rendered or painted, such cosmetic coverings will have to be stripped off so that the bare brick surfaces can be accessed. The exposed brick surfaces will then have to be thoroughly sanded and cleaned, so your exterior walls have a neat and uniform finish.
If you have not yet chosen a a pointing style (Tuck, Flush, Weather Struck or Recessed pointing), or you wish to see how the different pointing methods appear on your home, a professional Portland repointing specialist will be glad to mock up a test section on your property. This pointing test panel will enable you to see how each technique compares to each other and also which one matches the style of your property best.
Now the dusty work will begin as the old, crumbling mortar is removed by raking and cleaning out the brick joints. This is quite a laborious process where the old mortar and any dust or loose debris has to be painstakingly cleaned out to provide a good bonding surface for the new mortar. The repointing team will be particularly watchful around windows, doors and openings where movement in the brickwork or an excess of mortar can cause difficulties in opening and closing them.
Once the joints are clean, the brickwork will be damped down to stop the fresh mortar from drying out too quickly and subsequently cracking. This makes sure that the mortar stays flexible and allows it to dry at a slower pace to prevent cracking and creating a weakened joint. During the application of the mortar there will be excess mortar and smears on the brickwork which looks messy, however this can be removed once it's dried. The walls are divided into areas, and each one in turn will be repointed, left to dry, and then cleaned up before the team move on to the next section of brickwork.
If any lead flashing work, chimney repairs or brick replacement needs doing by the repointing company during the work, now is the time when these jobs will be undertaken.
Any paint, rendering or other wall coverings that you require will be re-applied as soon as all remedial work has been concluded. The final stage of the project will entail all cables, pipes and other fittings put back in their original locations, the scaffold disassembled and all waste materials removed and disposed of.
Repointing your house using a competent Portland specialist should mean that you'll not have to worry yourself about your exterior brickwork for 50 to 60 years or more. All repointing work should be provided with a guarantee of at least twelve months and have the backing of affiliations from the construction and building industry.
Suitable accreditations could take various forms, but those that are prominent in relation to this type of work are: the National Federation of Building Contractors, the National House Building Council and the Federation of Master Builders, with certifications and qualifications from construction industry forerunners such as the Chartered Institute of Building. Each person who does work on repointing and repairing your property should also be a member of the Construction Skills Certification Scheme and be willing to demonstrate their ability and skills by showing an appropriate CSCS card.
Repointing providers are accessible in Abbotsbury, Fortuneswell, Broadmayne, Grove, Nottington, Weston, Sutton Poyntz, Warmwell, Osmington, Portesham, Wyke Regis, Easton, Castletown, Upton, in the following postcodes: DT5 2EL, DT5 2HN, DT5 2DT, DT5 2AW, DT5 2FB, DT5 2JL, DT5 2AE, DT5 2LL, DT5 2XX, and DT5 2BQ, plus in Portland itself. A couple of hints which imply that a repointing company works in Portland area is if they've got the postcode DT5 and the telephone dialling code 01305.
Mortar Colour Matching
Brick restoration or repointing projects in Portland fundamentally rely on the crucial process of mortar colour matching. The objective is to integrate the new mortar with what already exists to retain a consistent appearance and stay true to the structure's original appearance. This involves careful selection of the right colour and type of cement, sand, and any additives used. This operation calls for a sharp perception and deep-rooted familiarity with the materials involved and their respective alterations over time. For successful repointing and refurbishment, colour matching by a specialist becomes essential, as a mortar mismatch can compromise the structure's overall appearance. By investing in precise mortar colour matching, we can ensure a seamless blend between the older and restored areas, safeguarding the building's aesthetic and historical significance. (25609)
Repointing Specialists Near Portland
Also find: Warmwell repointing, Sutton Poyntz repointing, Upton repointing, Wyke Regis repointing, Castletown repointing, Nottington repointing, Fortuneswell repointing, Portesham repointing, Broadmayne repointing, Easton repointing, Abbotsbury repointing, Osmington repointing, Grove repointing, Weston repointing and more. There are companies who do repointing in almost all of these localities. These specialists have the know-how and expertise to do an amazing job on your brickwork. Fed up with your tired old brickwork? Don't settle for shabby - call in the pros and watch your walls go from drab to fab! Repointing quotes are available to local residents by clicking here.
Portland Repointing Tasks
Just Some of the Work That a Repointing Specialist Can Do
There are a whole host of tasks that can be undertaken by your local Portland repointing specialist including ridge tiles repointed or rebedded, mortar rake grinding, brick staining, bucket handle repointing, stone pointing and repointing in Portland, patch repointing, stone strengthening, tile repointing, brickwork crack repairs, repointing services, pointing mortar joints in Portland, gable end repointing, brick repointing, foundation repointing, weather struck repointing in Portland, slab repointing, fireplace repointing, the repointing of chimneys, tuck pointing, strap pointing and re-pointing, lime mortar repointing in Portland, the lime pointing of brickwork and stonework in Portland, garden wall repointing, stone wall repointing, the replacement of damaged brickwork, industrial repointing, mortar raking, masonry restoration in Portland, brick joint restoration, domestic repointing, and repointing scaffolds. These are just a few of the duties that are accomplished by experts in brick repointing. Portland companies will be delighted to keep you abreast of their whole range of repointing services.
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