Tuckpointing is the operation of finishing joints in brickwork after the bricklaying has been completed, and is a way of using two contrasting colours in the mortar joints of the brickwork with one colour to match the bricks themselves with a secondary pointed line pressed ontop as a means of contrast in both colour and in lined layout. When cement is added to mortars the cement sets by a chemical reaction which results in a hard impervious material which can damage soft stone or brickwork. Lime being a naturally occuring mineral is flexible and when sets is weaker than the surrounding stones or bricks and therefore will move or under worse situations crack inside the joints. Note: Originally only hydrated or wet lime was available to early builders, dry lime became available afterwards.Įxperts in places such as Scotland belonging to Societies for the Protection of Ancient Buildings say that lime mortars ideally should have no cement added!!, as cement causes the mortar to become impermeable and does not breathe or move with humidity. Lime has an adhesive property with bricks and stones so it is used as a binding material in masonry works. The aggregate or sand can be of a courser grade and does not have to be as fine as with tuckpointing purposes. Lime mortar has more sand with less lime. Lime mortars are composed of lime and aggregate (sand, small stones rocks etc ) however in different ratios than in lime putty. Brick buildings and houses also began to increase in popularity in the 18th century when brick facades came back into fashion due to popular ornate designs of the time. It is interesting to note that bricks of this era were largely red clay, kiln fired bricks with origins dating back to the Roman Empire when kiln fired bricks were developed for building colonies around the world. So tuckpointing results in a very strong distinction between the brickwork. Then to finish a fine fillet of lime putty (coloured white, red or black) was then pushed onto this base mortar joint to create a contrasting colour to the brick or stonework and to the underlying mortar between the joints. Tuckpointing was then refined to further create the illusion of more precise brick geometries by placing up to 1cm of lime putty of matching colour to the brick or stone itself, in order to firstly hide their irregularity, faults and any distinctions between the brick or stonework. So basically early stone masons and bricklayers just made straight horizontal and vertical grooves between the brickwork. Thus, the term tuckpointing derives from this earlier yet simpler technique that was used with very uneven bricks with a thin line called a "tuck", which was drawn in the flush-faced mortar, but left unfilled, to give the impression of well-formed brickwork. And thus someone devised the tuckpointed method, whereby neat straight lines were raked out in the freshly laid mortar to create an "illusion" from a distance that the bricks were somewhat symetrical and to appear to be made more precisely that the brick or stone that they comprised of. A more inexpensive method was required where a builder/ mason/ stone mason could use cheaper non-uniform shaped bricks and stones. However to build a house with precisely made rubbed bricks was significantly more expensive. When these precisely made by hand bricks (rubbers) were laid with lime mortar (lime and fine sand), the end result was a neat finish of red brick contrasting with very fine white brick joint. These rubbed bricks were relatively more expensive to manufacture than un-rubbed or un-finished bricks or stones. In order to make more precise sized bricks, the bricks were made slightly oversize and then after being baked, were scraped or rubbed down by hand and these finished precise bricks were known as "gauged" bricks or "rubbers" for slang. The art of brick making was not as refined as it is today, and the wooden molds varied due to age and crude method of manufacture which resulted in generally irregular shaped bricks. Tuckpointing was developed in early 18th century England where at the time bricks were handmade in individual wooden molds and baked in kilns. Tuckpointing - History and Facts, Tuckpointing Tools, Techniques & FAQ's.
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