Need to repoint / tuck point many of the brick window sill joints, under aluminum frame windows.
Mortar is quite soft (skimped on portland on this house), but too many to drill / scrape by hand (my hands kill me).
Shouldn't a cheap "abrasive" grinding / cutoff wheel work fine on soft mortar - won't need a diamond wheel?
I think I can borrow a 4" angle grinder.
Without spending fortune on special tools, I'm not sure about mechanical way to remove mortar up against bricks?
Short, abrasive sawzall blade?
Or go slower w/ angle grinder when near the bricks? These are hollow bricks - holes on top & bottom - to get hung on with reciprocating tools.
Even my Dremel w/ abrasive blade (v. thin) would cut this mortar, but not 3/4 - or 1" deep.
Seems like I've always heard to remove 1/2" to 3/4" old mortar for repointing.
One site says, depth of 2 to 2-1/2 times the width of the joint?" But immediately follows:
"Often I see contractors bidding repointing projects calling for the depth of the removal at ¾ inch. For most mortar joints that are the thickness of your little finger, about 3/8 inch, this is not deep enough."
Well, 3/8 * 2 = 3/4". So...?
Mortar is quite soft (skimped on portland on this house), but too many to drill / scrape by hand (my hands kill me).
Shouldn't a cheap "abrasive" grinding / cutoff wheel work fine on soft mortar - won't need a diamond wheel?
I think I can borrow a 4" angle grinder.
Without spending fortune on special tools, I'm not sure about mechanical way to remove mortar up against bricks?
Short, abrasive sawzall blade?
Or go slower w/ angle grinder when near the bricks? These are hollow bricks - holes on top & bottom - to get hung on with reciprocating tools.
Even my Dremel w/ abrasive blade (v. thin) would cut this mortar, but not 3/4 - or 1" deep.
Seems like I've always heard to remove 1/2" to 3/4" old mortar for repointing.
One site says, depth of 2 to 2-1/2 times the width of the joint?" But immediately follows:
"Often I see contractors bidding repointing projects calling for the depth of the removal at ¾ inch. For most mortar joints that are the thickness of your little finger, about 3/8 inch, this is not deep enough."
Well, 3/8 * 2 = 3/4". So...?