As a former realtor, general contractor and greenhouse operator, Kristi has touched nearly all aspects of homeownership, from the foundation up. Today, Kristi is a full-time investing and real estate ...

I read Editor Eric White’s “How to color brick structures” article in the August 2026 issue of Model Railroader in which he describes using joint compound to simulate mortar on brick models. I was a ...

Q. I need to repair the mortar joints on my older brick home that was built in the late 1800s. I’ve seen some horrible workmanship where the mortar doesn’t match at all, and I want to avoid this. How ...

Jeff Somers is a freelancer who has been writing about writing, books, personal finance, and home maintenance since 2012. When not writing, Jeff spends his free time fixing up his old house. He has ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Do you know what “repointing” bricks means? By definition, it consists of “removing a portion of the deteriorated mortar and redoing the joints with new mortar.” Doing that basically ...

This brick was installed 129 years ago. This might very well be the original mortar. It’s survived many a harsh New Hampshire winter. (Tim Carter) Perspective by Tim Carter Q: I need to repair the ...

Pre-mixed mortar products were virtually nonexistent before the 1980s, when nearly every mason blended raw materials on-site by hand. Modern polymer-modified mortars bond more tightly than traditional ...