How to repair brick columns like a
breeze.
Beautiful sunny
morning on your patio, you are
joyfully sipping the orange juice
and enjoying the view that sets
between the two brick columns of
your patio. But suddenly a
terrifying site ruins the morning.
You discover two large cracks that
run the length of one of the brick
columns of your patio. Upon closer
inspection of the cracked brick
column you discover some loosen
bricks too. It’s a disaster, you
shout. What to do now?...
Well, fear not
my friend. You have two options.
One: If you live in Florida, just
check out
our service area and
call our
experienced brick layers
to fix your brick columns.
And second;
for those of you who live outside of
our coverage area here is an article
which describes how to repair your
own brick columns.
The first step
is to inspect the extent of the
damage. Check if your column has
loosen, broken or cracked bricks.
Count how many bricks need to be
changed and venture out to find them
in exact sizes and possibly in
matching color. Purchase a few extra
bricks since it can always brake so
you might need some more. If you got
your bricks and determined the
damaged area just simply start
grinding out the mortar joints
around the bricks that needs to be
replaced as shown on the picture on
the right↓
At this point it is a good
thing to know if the brick column is
load bearing or not. If it is, you
have to utilize some kind of support
for the time duration of the repair
job. A piece of wood as shown on the
picture on the left would be
satisfactory. After getting out the
mortar from the brick joints you can
start chiseling out the damaged or
broken bricks. For this task you can
use either a hand-held chisel or for
larger projects use a chipping
hammer tool. Same as shown on the
picture bellow.
However, be careful with a
chipping hammer.
It can easily crack
the bricks that are otherwise in
good shape. After cleaning out the
work area it is important to dust
the bricks off and wet the area
where the new bricks are going to be
installed. It is also a very good
idea to rinse the bricks that you
intend to install. It will provide a much
better adhesion or bonding if the
wall and the bricks are wet and dust free.
At this
point you can start mixing your
mortar. Try to mix it to a
consistency that you feel
comfortable working with. Not too
hard and not too soupy (watery). Use
a brick trowel or a margin trowel to
put the mud on the walls and the
front end of the brick. Good, you
have made it this far. Now to
complicate the situation you have to
use another device called: level.
(You know that two feet yellow thing
with the bubble in the middle.)
OK
just joking. Just simply put your
level parallel to your column and
set your new bricks close to the
side of the level. Quick tip: If you
lay bricks you have to keep the
height that needs to be built up
with brick and divide it to the size
of the joint and the height of your
bricks. In other words you have to
know how many courses you will lay.
For more info on
how to
calculate your brick courses click
here.
However, if you repair only a small
segment of the column you just
simply go with the same level as the
original courses.
 |
|
Concaved joints. |
After
installation of the bricks you have
to do some minor touch ups, such us
filling up or tuck-pointing the
joints with mortar. ( The same
mortar you have used for laying the
bricks but perhaps in a little
thicker consistency.)
The next step
is to mach the design of the joints
to the existing column.
The most
commonly used joints are either
concaved or raked out ( Square
recessed ) joints. If you finished
tooling the brick joints you have to
brush it with a light whisk brush to
smooth-out the surface of the
mortar.
And that's all.
With a little effort and
attention to details you can
complete this brick repair
project like a breeze. And the
completed brick column will
stand on your porch for the
admiration of your neighbors and
the attention and praise from
your guests alike, for many years
to come.
Read on
to find out how our brick layers can help you save money
on your next brick installation
project.
↓
Not a DIY?
Don’t feel to repair
brick columns on your
own? Fear not, if your
project is located in
our Florida service area
just send us an email
and we will give you a
free price quote
on any sized job.
Related articles and pages:
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information on
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click here to check out what
type of construction projects we
can help you with.
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