My house is about 60 years old and the mortar on my poarch is turning to
sand. Is there any way to stop it I have been pointing what has come out but
it starts somewhere else a few months later.

"W. Wells" wrote in message
om...
My house is about 60 years old and the mortar on my poarch is turning to
sand. Is there any way to stop it I have been pointing what has come out
but it starts somewhere else a few months later.

A concrete sealer might help especially in the winter when freeze/thaw is
the worst or if the decay is caused by exposure to water/humidity. but if
it has already decayed to the point of softning, then raking it all out (or
use a diamond circular saw) and replacing it is probably the only perminant
fix.

"W. Wells" wrote in message
om...
My house is about 60 years old and the mortar on my poarch is turning to
sand. Is there any way to stop it I have been pointing what has come out
but it starts somewhere else a few months later.

Even with soft mortar sealer or consolidant will only penetrate so much. If
your mortar is already crumbling and turning to sand, you're better off
replacing it than trying to treat it chemically.

I also think you need to replace the mortar.

W. Wells wrote:
My house is about 60 years old and the mortar on my poarch is turning to
sand. Is there any way to stop it I have been pointing what has come out but
it starts somewhere else a few months later.

Don't waste time and money with a sealer. Re-pointing is what's called
for and really, the whole chunk of masonry was likely done at the same
time, so it's expected that it's all failing at pretty much the same time:
once some of it starts to go, you probably should have re-pointed the
whole thing. Instead, you're doing the most exposed areas first, then
the next most exposed areas and on and on. If you don't mind working like
that, that's OK, but in terms of keeping things matched, I'd just bite the
bullet and do the whole shebang in one go. Then you'll be good for
another 60 years.




John
--
Remove the dead poet to e-mail, tho CC'd posts are unwelcome.
Mean People Suck - It takes two deviations to get cool.
Ask me about joining the NRA.