Stone chimney repair in Mariners Village

Preparing joints before filling

Preservation guidance wants the old mortar cut out cleanly to a flat, squared back, and the joint washed free of dust and loose grit. At the time of filling, joints should be damp with no standing water.

Dust and a rounded back are what let new mortar pop out later. Our crew cleans each joint to a square, sound back and dampens it just before filling, section by section.

Recessing mortar on worn stone

When stones have worn, rounded edges, the brief recommends recessing the final mortar slightly from the face. Filling flush with worn edges makes joints look wider than they are and leaves a thin featheredge of mortar that breaks easily and lets water in.

We set the joint depth to suit your stone. On crisp cut stone, joints can come closer to the face. On weathered fieldstone, a slight recess keeps the repair durable and true to the wall's character.

Resetting a loose stone

A loose stone comes out carefully, by hand, without prying against its neighbors. The old mortar is cleaned off the stone's back and the bed it came from, down to sound material.

Then the stone goes back with fresh mortar filling the whole bed, pressed in until mortar squeezes out around its edges, and the joints are tooled to match. Before any of that, we find out why it loosened, since a reset over the same water problem will not hold.

• Removed by hand, neighbors protected
• Old mortar cleaned off stone and bed
• Reset with full mortar coverage
• Joints tooled to the existing profile

Spot repointing or the whole face

When a few joints have failed in an otherwise sound wall, spot repointing is sensible. The brief notes that spot repointing is generally preferable, with some color difference acceptable.

Where soft, eroded mortar spreads across a wide area, or old and new joints would clash, repointing an entire face finishes more evenly. We explain which your chimney needs and price both when the answer is close.

Chimneys that mix brick and stone

Some chimneys combine materials, a stone base with a brick upper section, or stone facing on a brick core. Brick and stone take different mortars, different joint styles and sometimes different repair methods.

We treat each part on its own terms and name both in the estimate. Brick sections are handled under brick repair, and the stone portions under this work, so it is clear what is being done to each.