Mortar crumbling or sinking back between your bricks? We rake out the worn joints and refill them with mortar that suits your wall.
Brick pointing in Aliso Viejo, often called repointing, means raking the worn mortar out of the joints to an even depth and packing in fresh mortar, so the bricks stay where they are and the wall is tight again.
Most people call us after they notice joints sinking back from the brick face, sand piling up at the foot of the wall, or thin cracks running along the mortar. The bricks are usually fine, and the work is all in the joints. The same wear shows up on chimneys, where it's harder to see from the ground, and our chimney repair page covers the extra work up top.
The price mostly follows how much wall needs doing and how hard it is to reach. The schedule turns on the size of the wall and whether your association has to sign off first. I look at the joints in person and leave you an estimate for your own wall, so you're working from a real number instead of a guess.
Call (949) 619-8220 or use the form, and tell us a little about the wall. We'll get back to you and set a time for me to come out.
I come out myself, check the joints up close and answer whatever you want to ask, as many times as you need. You get an estimate for the sections that need pointing now, and I'll tell you plainly which ones can wait.
Once you're ready, we take care of what the city or your association needs before any mortar comes out. That way nothing holds up the job halfway through.
Our crew works within the city's construction hours, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays, with no work on Sundays or federal holidays. When the joints are done, we clean up and I walk the finished wall with you.
The mortar is where pointing goes right or wrong. New mortar should be no harder than the old, because a joint stronger than the brick can make the brick face break away, which masons call spalling. So we match the new mortar to the old in both hardness and color, and since the sand and the cement each change how the finished joint looks, we pick both with care.
Before we touch the whole wall, we put a small sample in a hidden spot so you can see the match with your own eyes. It's fair to ask any crew how they take the old mortar out, because power tools can nick the brick edges, and I'll show you how we'd do it on your wall.
What brick pointing covers:
If the bricks are sound and only the joints have worn, pointing is the right fix, and rebuilding a good wall would spend your money for nothing. Bricks that are cracked through or flaking need brick repair before we point around them. Cracks that step up the wall or keep opening can mean the footing is moving. Then I'll tell you plainly it's a foundation repair question, sometimes for an engineer, before pointing makes sense.
Most of the cost comes down to how much wall we rake out and refill and how deep the worn joints go, since crumbling joints take longer to clean out than shallow wear. A chimney or a second-story wall adds ladders or scaffold. An unusual mortar color can take a few sample batches to match, and any bricks we swap out add to it. Pointing only the sections that need it is the surest way to keep the cost down.
I taught myself to lay brick and block and started this business in 2023, and I still come out to every job and work it with our crew. What I care about most is that you understand your own wall before you pay to fix it, so I'll take the extra time and answer the same question twice if that's what it takes.
We keep the work to the sections that need it, protect the plants and paving below the wall, and clean up when we're done. If I find something beyond masonry, I'll say so and tell you who to call. Our work comes with one promise, satisfaction guaranteed.
Send a few photos of the joints and a rough wall size, so I come out already knowing what to look for.
Tell us roughly how much wall needs work and your subassociation, if any. We respond within one business day to set up your free on-site estimate, with no pressure to book.
Your joints need repointing when the mortar has worn back more than about a quarter inch from the brick face, or when it's crumbling, has gaps, shows hairline cracks or has pulled away from the brick. If you scrape a joint with a key and mortar falls out easily, that's another tell. If you're not sure, I'm happy to come look and tell you which sections can wait.
Mortar usually lasts roughly 25 to 50 years, while the brick itself lasts about 100 years or more. Because the joints wear out well before the brick, pointing an older wall is normal upkeep, not a sign the wall is failing.
Across the US, brick repointing usually costs about $4 to $20 per square foot of wall, and that's a national figure, not our price. Where your wall lands depends on how deep the joints are worn, how high the work is and how hard the mortar is to match. I'll give you your own number once I've seen the wall.
Hire a crew that does repointing regularly, because it's its own skill and even an excellent mason may not be qualified for it. In California, brick and stone work falls under the state's masonry contractor license, so check that before you hire. Ask to see repointing work in particular. We're licensed and insured, and repair work like this is what we're best known for.
We check with the city's Building & Safety office about your job before we start, and when a permit is needed, we handle the application and the inspections. You can reach that office at 949-425-2540. If your work counts as an improvement under the Aliso Viejo Community Association's guidelines, the request goes to your subassociation first and then to the association's MAC, or straight to the MAC if you have no subassociation, and we help you put that request together.
That white haze is efflorescence, and guidance written for historic masonry buildings says it occasionally shows up in the first few months after repointing and usually goes away with normal weathering. If it stays, the same guidance says to dry brush it with a stiff natural or nylon brush, then wet brush it. It also says to skip muriatic acid, which generally doesn't work on it.
We're based in Aliso Viejo and point brick in Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo and other cities nearby. Pick your area below, or call (949) 619-8220 if yours isn't listed.
