What Tuckpointing Really Costs

Tuckpointing Is Priced by the Joint, Not the Chimney

Tuckpointing, also called repointing, is grinding the tired mortar out of the joints and filling them again with new mortar. On chimneys it is the repair we quote more than any other, and the one most often oversold. The reason is simple: nearly every old chimney has some worn mortar, so it is easy to say the whole thing needs doing.

It usually does not. Mortar wears unevenly. The part of the chimney above the roofline takes the most sun, wind and rain, and it wears first. The south and west faces get the most heat. The courses just under the crown take water if the crown has cracked. The part of the chimney along the house wall, below the roof, often has years left in it. A fair estimate prices the sections that need work and leaves the rest.

How We Measure the Scope

On a visit, we look at each face and each section of the chimney. For each one, we check how deep the mortar has eroded, whether it is soft or crumbles under a tool, and whether any bricks are cracked, spalled or loose. As a rough guide, joints that have lost more than about a quarter inch of depth, or that crumble when scraped, are due. Joints that are shallow and hard can wait.

Then the estimate is written by section. A typical Woodland Hills ranch chimney might come back as:

• - Above the roofline, all four faces: repoint, replace a few spalled bricks
• Crown: recast, because it is the source of the water
• Along the house wall: sound, check again in two or three years

You can see exactly what you are paying for. If you want to do only the top section this year, you can.

What Sets the Price

Because we price by the work, not by a flat rate, the factors are:

Area. How many square feet of joints need grinding and filling. Three courses at the top of one face is a short job. A whole two-story chimney is a long one.

Depth and condition. Shallow erosion is quicker to grind and fill than deep, crumbling joints that need careful cleaning out.

Brick replacement. Spalled or cracked bricks need cutting out and replacing with a match, which takes more time than repointing.

Access. Height, roof pitch and lot slope affect setup time.

Mortar match. A careful match of color and strength takes more time than using a standard bag mix.

The crown. If the crown is the cause, it has to be fixed too, or the new mortar will wear out just as fast.

Why the Mortar Mix Matters

Many West Valley chimneys from the 1950s and 1960s were built with mortar softer than modern cement-heavy mixes. Older homes in Glendale or Pasadena may have softer, lime-rich mortar again. The rule in masonry is that mortar should be softer than the brick, so that if anything cracks, it is the mortar, which is cheap to replace, not the brick, which is not.

Repointing a soft-brick chimney with very hard mortar can make things worse. The hard joints do not move with the brick as it heats and cools, so the brick cracks at the edges. We match the strength of the original as closely as practical, and the color too. A test patch on a small section shows you the match before we do the whole chimney. Expect fresh mortar to look a little bright for the first season before it weathers in.

Send Photos for a Written Tuckpointing Quote

To get a quote started, send photos of each face of the chimney you can see, plus a close-up of the mortar joints if you can safely reach them. Use the quote form and we will tell you whether it looks like a section repair or a full repoint, what else we would want to check, and what the visit covers. A photo of the crown, even from a distance, helps us tell whether water from the top is part of the problem.

What Can Wait

Tuckpointing is rarely an emergency. Here is how we sort it:

• - Do soon: loose bricks near the top, joints open enough to see daylight or push a key into, or mortar falling onto the roof. Loose brick on a chimney in earthquake country should not wait.
• Plan for this year: joints eroded past a quarter inch on the upper courses, especially with a leak inside.
• Watch: shallow erosion on lower courses, hairline cracks in hard mortar.

If the budget is tight, do the top section and the crown first. Those protect the rest of the chimney. The lower courses can follow when they need it.

When Tuckpointing Is Not the Answer

Some chimneys are past repointing. If bricks are loose through the upper section, if the chimney has a visible lean or has pulled away from the house, or if cracks run through the bricks themselves rather than along the joints, new mortar will not hold it together. The 1994 Northridge earthquake left many chimneys in the valley in that condition, and some were patched rather than rebuilt.

In that case, we price a partial rebuild from the roofline next to the repair route, so you can see the difference. Sometimes the rebuild costs less over ten years than repointing a failing stack twice.

Questions to Ask Any Contractor

• - Which sections of my chimney need repointing, and which do not?
• How deep will you grind the joints?
• What mortar will you use, and how does it compare to the original?
• Are you fixing the crown, and if not, why not?
• Can I see a test patch first?

A clear answer to each is a good sign.

Book a Masonry Look

A masonry check is part of a Level 1 inspection, $52, which also covers the crown, cap and flashing. You get a written scope by section, with photos and a price for each part. Call us using the number at the top of this page to book, or send the form with photos of your chimney.