Brick pointing in San Rafael CA - solid joints with mortar suited to your brick

Your joints need repointing when the mortar has worn back more than 1/4 inch, crumbles, has holes or shows cracks, going by the Brick Industry Association's guidance. Only the joints that show those signs need work, so a few bad spots usually mean a small job.

Brick repointing across the US usually costs about $3 to $15 per square foot of wall, according to national cost guides. That's a nationwide figure, not our price. Your own number comes in the written estimate after I've looked at your wall.

It depends on the work, because San Rafael's Building Official issues permits for work that builds, alters, repairs or demolishes a building, except the work on the city's list of exemptions. We check with the city or county office for your address before we start, and if a permit is needed we handle the paperwork and set up the inspections.

It might, if your house is a landmark or sits in a historic district, because the city's historic preservation rules require Planning Commission review of projects that may change the outside of a landmark or change something in a historic district. The city also treats any building on the San Rafael Historical/Architectural Survey as a significant historic resource, so if yours is on it, sort out the review before work starts.

A good repointing job is meant to last at least 30 years, and preferably 50 to 100, according to the National Park Service's guidance on historic masonry. That's why we fix whatever wore the mortar out first and use a mix that suits your brick, so the job only has to be done once.

Ask how the new mortar will match yours and how they'll get the old mortar out. Preservation guidance says hand chisels and mash hammers carry the least risk to historic brick, though they're slow, while power saws and grinders, the usual tools, can wreck soft brick in unskilled hands. Testing the old mortar adds cost and usually only suits historic work that has to match closely.

Yes. California's Contractors State License Board sets a Masonry Contractor class for contractors who install brick, block, stone and fire brick. When you're comparing masons for repointing work, it's fair to ask each one what license they carry.