Tuckpointing is a great way to transform the look of a brick home and make it look updated and stylish again. People that own older brick homes also might use tuckpointing as a way of repairing joints and adding mortar to spots where the joints are weak or where the mortar is crumbling. Since this job is so important, it's crucial to know what the cost of tuckpointing is before you seriously take on this project.
Most masonry walls can last between ten and twenty years without needing any kind of repair or updating but some homeowners may just want to change the look of the brick and give it a bit up a style upgrade even if it doesn’t need any repairs.
Tuckpointing can sometimes be costly because it involves using two different colors of mortar and it has to be applied very precisely. But if you are investing in the appearance of your home the cost is worth it. Upgrading your home’s exterior and making sure that the masonry walls are in good shape is a good idea if you haven’t ever done any masonry repairs on your home. Or if you want to sell your home in the next year or so it’s a smart idea to get tuckpointing done as a way to interest buyers in an older home.
People will be a lot more interested in buying an older home if it’s recently had masonry repairs done so that they know that they won’t have to do any expensive masonry repairs when they buy the house.
The Cost Of Tuckpointing
There are several different factors that go into the pricing of tuckpointing, so the cost of the job will vary. You should always have a professional contractor or mason perform any tuckpointing on your home.
There are some jobs around the house that you can DIY but tuckpointing isn’t one of them (read all about DIY chimney cleaning here). Because the joints have to be precise and the mortar has to be prepared correctly you have to have a trained and experience professional doing the work.
You will save your self a lot of money and time by hiring a professional to take on a job like repairing your masonry walls with tuckpointing. Some of the elements that go into the pricing of tuckpointing are:
Location
Different areas will have different going rates for contractor work or professional home renovation work so where your home is located will impact the cost of the job. The time of the year that you want to have the work done can also have an impact on the cost of the job so if you’re planning on getting tuckpointing done make sure you find out what the difference in price is to have it done in the spring or summer versus the fall.
If you’re not sure what the going rate is in your area it’s a good idea to get estimates from several different contractors so that you can compare the estimated costs.
Size Of The Job
The size of the job will have a big impact on the price. For example, if you only want to have a small area of the masonry wall repaired with tuckpointing that probably isn’t going to cost very much. However, if you want the entire house tuckpointed, it will cost a lot more.
Many homeowners end up having decorative tuckpointing done on the front of the house only or on whatever part of the house faces the street to maintain the curb appeal of the home without having the renovation cost a fortune.
And homeowners that are getting ready to sell their homes may have just small spots of the home tuckpointed in order to repair any broken down or crumbling mortar to make the home more attractive to potential buyers.
Repair Work Needed
If the contractor or mason needs to do a lot of mortar repair work that will cause a big increase in the price. Decorate tuckpointing is relatively easy to do but having to make actual repairs to the existing mortar or having to replace it entirely means a lot more work and of course a higher cost.
But if you have never had any repair work done on your masonry walls you may need to have a lot of repair work done in order to make the house safe and to make it look good.
If you do need to have a lot of repair work done to consider it an investment in your home. You will more than likely get a nice return on that investment when you are ready to sell your home because that will be a big repair job that the new owners won’t have to pay for.
It pays, in the long run, to spend a little more making sure that your masonry walls are in good condition now.
Hand Tucking Or Using An Electric Grinder
Hand tucking is a good choice for small areas, or if the tuckpointing is just decorative. The contractor or mason can be a lot more precise and careful when tucking by hand. But that will increase the labor cost so it’s really only a good option if you have a small area that needs tuckpointing like the front side of the house or a side wall that faces the street. Or if you have a single level home hand tucking might be a good option.
But if you are having your entire brick home tuckpointed or if you have a multiple story home and the upper stories also are being tuckpointed then the contractor or mason will probably have to use an electric grinder to make sure that the job is done quickly and uniformly. This will save you money but may not get you the kind offline-tuned precision tucking that you want in order to really transform the look of your home.
Labor
The biggest contributing factor to the cost of tuckpointing for your home will be the labor cost involved. It’s a laborious process and even if the contractor or mason is using electrical equipment there is a lot of hand mixing and handwork that needs to be done as well. If you are having your entire house renovated with tuckpointing that will add a lot to the cost too. And the size of your home will factor into the labor costs as well.
If you have a large home, of course, that will mean more labor than a small home. Homeowners that are interested in getting their brick homes tuckpointed should assume that labor will be about half the entire cost for the job of getting the home tuckpointed.
Materials
The other large part of the cost will be the materials. If you want to use contrasting mortar that means someone has to physically create that color of mortar that will be the opposite color to what you already have. And someone will have to mix mortar that matches your existing brick too.
If you are having just a few spots of masonry walls repaired and tuckpointed that will cost much less than having the entire wall tuckpointed. But since tuckpointing will last for ten years or more you may just want to go ahead and have it done now so that you won’t need to fix it later on.
Vertical Chimney Care Does Quality Tuckpointing
Whether your job is big or small, tuckpointing you masonry requires special care from professionals. Contact us today and get your next tuckpointing job started.
