Brickwork and pointing problems

Crumbling mortar, spalling faces, leaning walls and rain driving through — what each masonry fault usually means.

Crumbling Mortar Between Bricks

The mortar joints have gone sandy and you can rake them out with a key or a fingernail.

The front face of bricks is flaking, blowing off or crumbling away, leaving the softer inside exposed.

A free-standing boundary or garden wall is out of plumb and looks like it could come down.

The outer leaf of a cavity wall has bowed outwards, often with regular horizontal cracks along the mortar beds.

A white, dusty or crystalline bloom has appeared on the face of the bricks, often on a new wall.

Hard grey pointing stands proud of the brickwork and the brick faces around it have started to crumble.

The vents low down in an external wall are blocked with soil, paint, insulation or a new patio.

A damp patch appears on an internal wall during heavy driven rain and dries out again afterwards.

The brickwork above the roof line has lost its mortar, shed brick faces, or started to lean to one side.

The lowest courses of brick are eroded, crumbling or missing their faces while the wall above is sound.