Stuart Noble wrote:
tonyjeffs wrote:
My brickwork is passable but only just.... I have some basic questions
I'm using a 3:1 mix.
The engineering bricks I'm using have 3 large holes straight through.
Should I be filling these with cement as I go along?
Should I lay excess cement on each course so there is enough sticking
out to point up? If I do this it tends to dribble.
Or should I point afterwards with a dry mix. I can do it better this
way, but I can't get smooth flowing lines to my pointing because it's
too dry. If i make it wetter, it'll stain the brick surfaces.

So my problem is one way or the other, how to get a nice finish to my
pointing without staining the outer brick surfaces.

Any tips & advice appreciated.

Thanks
Tony


My brickwork skills are about the same as yours by the sound of it. I do
the pointing as a separate process, and I think the staining problem can
be overcome by not trying to clean up the excess mortar too soon. Smooth
it with whatever you're using, but leave the surplus ridges for a couple
of hours so you can chop them off with the edge of the trowel when
they've dried out a bit. If you get dribbling, you probably need a
thicker mix.
My pointing is actually pretty good. I just have trouble keeping the
bricks level and straight :-)

Oh, and another thing. I've never mastered the art of "throwing" mortar
into the joints from the edge of the trowel the way brickies do. I use a
mortar board and a narrow metal thing which I don't know the name of to
push it in. Very quick for the horizontal runs but a PITA for the
verticals.