Raked Out Mortar Joints

Again work from the outside corners inward photo 3.

Raked out mortar joints.

To make your own raked joint tool drive a 6d box nail into a short 1x2 board so that it matches the depth of the existing joints. Scrape out the horizontal joints to a depth of at least inch. Rake out the bed joints photo by allison dinner. For this project we used a raked joint mortar profile.

When mortar is raked out of the joints it is smeared on the edges of the brick at the recesses. The drill makes quick work of removing mortar but be careful. 2 times the joint s width a carbide tipped grout saw works well on these inch wide butter joints on wider joints use a cold chisel and an engineer s hammer. Pull the board straight down to created a raked joint.

Use the rotary hammer drill to pound the mortar out of the joints. If some of the mortar is still hard and the arrises soft then a chisel with chip the arises and repointing can look a mess if you use a grinder use a proper thicker grinding blade not a cutting blade i ve used a rake attachment but found it harder to see the joint properly to allow the tool to be pushed in a straight line. These aggressive cleaning techniques can open up additional voids and separations which increases the likelihood of water. Premier diamond products mortar raking blades and evorake bits provide a great solution for raking out mortar joints prior to re pointing.

Mortar joints can be made in a series of different fashions but the most common ones are raked grapevine extruded concave v struck flush. Evorake bits can a. To remove the mortar contractors often clean the walls multiple times with acid solutions or moderate to high pressure water. Set the drill on the rotating mode it puts less pressure on the bricks.

Due to the fact that the mortar sits back from the face of the brick there is less cover between the face of the mortar joint and the top of the brick unit where the cores exist. Joints wider than inch have to be deeper. The raked joint is another joint not recommended for exterior use because its ledge may allow water snow ice to sit on top of the brick. Keep the chisel point in the mortar joint and keep moving the hammer.

To rake joints hold the board perpendicular to the bricks and move it back and forth first along the vertical joints and then the horizontal joints.