Apex Contracting · Wentzville, MO
Tuckpointing and mortar repair in Wentzville and St. Charles County
If you can rake a joint out with a car key, the wall is asking for help. Billy grinds out the failed mortar, matches the new mix to the old in color and hardness, and points it so the repair disappears.
Free written estimate. The number on the quote is the number on the invoice.
Sound familiar
What failing mortar looks like from the driveway
- Mortar gone powdery and sandy, raking out when you drag a key across it
- Stair-step cracks following the joints around corners and window openings
- White chalky staining on the brick after rain
- Gaps or daylight where the top courses meet the soffit
Open joints wick water behind the veneer. Freeze-thaw does the rest, and a straightforward repoint turns into brick replacement.
How we do it
Ground out, matched, packed, tooled
Joints get ground out to solid mortar, usually about three quarters of an inch, without widening the joint or nicking the brick faces. The new mortar is mixed to match the original in hardness as well as color; hard modern mortar over soft old brick is why most patch jobs fail. Joints get packed in lifts, then tooled to match the profile on the rest of the house.
No smear jobs. Smearing wet mortar over a failed joint looks fine from the street for a season, then pops. Grinding is dusty and slow, which is why the shortcut exists, and why Billy doesn’t take it.
Recent tuckpointing jobs
Before and after, joint by joint
Questions
What people ask Billy on the phone
What does tuckpointing cost?
It depends on lineal footage, how high the work is, and how deep the failure goes, so Apex quotes it in person and in writing. The number on the quote is the number on the invoice.
Do I need the whole wall done, or just spots?
Spot pointing is right when the rest of the wall is sound. Full repoints make sense when failure is widespread. Billy will tell you which one you actually need, including when the answer is the cheaper one.
How long does tuckpointing last?
Done with matched mortar and a properly ground joint, decades. The quick failures you see around town are usually hard mortar smeared over soft joints.
Other work we do
Chimney Repair
The chimney fails first. Crowns, spalled brick, flashing, rebuilds.
See chimney repair →Concrete & Flatwork
Driveways, patios, garage slabs and steps, poured on a base that holds.
See concrete work →Brick & Stone Repair
Cracked brick matched and replaced, lintels reset, step cracks read.
See brick repair →Serving Wentzville, Lake St. Louis, O’Fallon, St. Peters and the rest of St. Charles County.
Free estimate
A written quote, and the number holds.
Most masons won’t give you a number until they’ve been to your house. Ours starts at $500, and you have it before anybody picks up a tool.
- Call BillyTell him what you’re looking at. If he’s up on a scaffold, leave a message and he gets back to you.
- Walk the job togetherHe looks at it in person, explains what failed, and writes the quote himself.
- The work gets doneGround out, matched, packed and tooled, then cleaned up. The invoice matches the quote.
No pressure visit. If the joints don’t need work yet, he’ll tell you that too.
Free estimate
The quickest way to a number is a phone call. Tell Billy the address and what you’re looking at.
(314) 687-5364Straight to Billy’s phone, not a call center.