Soft Mortar in Exterior Brick

[Pete Duel]

Greetings all.

I'm looking at buying a house. It seems very well taken care of in all other respects, but the mortar at the front of the house is very soft. If scratched with a key, I can easily gouge out a quarter inch depth of mortar in a pass or two. It does not come out in chunks; it simply dissolves into sand and dust.

Currently, there are not huge gaps between bricks where mortar has worn away, but I can see this happening pretty quickly if the mortar gets any sort of stress. Also, the soft mortar is only found on two (large) sections on the front of the house.

What sort of repair would this problem require?

I have asked around and gotten two responses:

1. "Repoint it and it'll be okay." This seems to me like it may just be covering up the problem, as the soft mortar goes way back into the joints, probably all the way through. Though maybe this will protect the soft mortar from further damage?

2. "You'll have to remove the entire fascia and replace it." (from my realtor) This seems a little extreme, but if #1 is a bad patch, I suppose this is the only alternative?

Thanks so much.

[Shanley]

Repointing is a very effective method to repair mortar joints that have eroded over time. Many historic buildings are repointed during restoration with great sucess.

Typically this erosion is caused by wind driven precipatation, years of exposure to freeze thaw cycles in cold weather climates, and possibly on newer veneers the use of too strong of a cleaning solution during washdown.

Before repointing, remove any loose, crumbling mortar and rake the joints back to a uniform depth; 2 to 2 1/2 (about an inch) times the joint width. Be very careful if you use a mechanical grinding wheel. Dampen the joints before you repoint, this will help bond the new mortar (a spray bottle works great), add a bonding agent to the mortar as well.

This is a task that you should consider hiring a professional to perform.