Which mortar joint types best protects from water ingress?

Concave Joint: The concave joint is the most common joint that is used, as it is also known as the best joint for preventing water penetration.

Can water go through brick mortar?





While the brick itself is very resistant to water passing through it, and to a degree the mortar between the brick, the interface where the mortar touches up against the brick provides a pathway for water to enter into a brick wall. You can’t see this crack because it’s often very small, but it exists.

How do you make a concave mortar joint?

How to create a concave mortar joint with a brick jointer

  1. Step 1 – Select jointer. Select a concave jointer. …
  2. Step 2 – Hold midsection. Hold the midsection of the jointer between your thumb and forefinger.
  3. Step 3 – Align jointer. …
  4. Step 4 – Carry out jointing. …
  5. Step 5 – Brush away excess.


What is a concave mortar joint?

Concave joints are, unsurprisingly, shaped with a slightly curved, concave pattern. This allows for maximum water resistance because it prevents rain from accumulating on any flat surfaces. By looking closely, you should be able to see a small depression in the mortar joints between the bricks of an exterior wall.

How do you waterproof mortar joints?





Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: With a low pressure sprayer. Until the surface is fully saturated. For best results start from the bottom and work up apply to surface until it no longer absorbs into the substrate dry.

How do you keep water from going up on a brick wall?

The solution: While you can’t stop it from raining, you can take measures to protect your brick walls from rain. Always use a breathable sealant to treat brick surfaces. Painting on bricks or using a non-breathable sealant can trap water under the surface and lead to more damage.

Will mortar keep water out?

Mortar is also able to absorb water and a water repellent will stop it from doing so. A silane/siloxane water repellent works by being absorbed into the brick, below the surface. Once there it reacts with the free-lime content that is present in both the brick and mortar.

How do you fix water in ingress?

Treat the water ingress with the following steps:

  1. Find the root cause and eliminate it.
  2. Dry the affected areas thoroughly.
  3. Carry out repairs.
  4. Use protection treatments to eliminate water ingress in the future.



Is mortar waterproof?

Mortar in general is not a watertight material, nor is it impervious to water.

What tool would you use to create a recessed joint?

Recessed Pointing



‘Recessed’ joints are raked out to a consistent depth. A wheeled jointer is an effective tool for this. The raked profile can be left as roughened texture, but it is better to compact the surface of the mortar to improve its resistance to rain penetration.

What is the most ideal shape for a mortar joint in a brick wall?



CONCAVE JOINT– This is the most common joint used in masonry construction. The tooling works the mortar tight into the joint to produce a more consistent weather joint. The pattern is emphasized and small irregularities in lay-ing are concealed.

What is a struck mortar joint?

Struck Mortar Joint



The struck mortar joint is employed for horizontal joints. Due to water seepage issues from the lower edges, these are not recommended for exterior masonry wall joints. As shown in the figure-1 above, the bottom edge is recessed. The top edge of the joint will be finished flat with the brick edge.

Which masonry joint is the most durable?

concave joint

Mortar joints can be tooled or untooled, although the tried-and-true concave joint is the most popular and durable of all joints. (Fig. 9-7) The V-joint and weathered joint are the next most durable.

Which tooled mortar joint will you recommend for exterior masonry construction?



The v-joints in brick masonry construction must be tooled properly so that no water gets accumulated within the groove created. Proper tooling of v-joint helps to prevent water accumulation and the penetration into the brick.

What are the different types of mortar joints?

Mortar joints can be made in a series of different fashions, but the most common ones are raked, grapevine, extruded, concave, V, struck, flush, weathered and beaded.

What is Flemish bond in brickwork?

A flemish bond is a brick construction pattern that consists of alternate stretchers and headers for each course.

Which is the strongest bond in brickwork?

English Bond



The English brick bond alternates rows of headers with rows of stretchers. This type of wall-building uses more bricks than a stretcher bond, so is rarely used for largescale residential developments, but it is often considered one of the best and strongest brick bond designs around.

What is the strongest brick pattern?



The strongest of the patterns is the herringbone. It can be laid at a 45 or 90 degree angle. The pattern has many angles that can be described as energetic, and can truly engage your visitors as they make their way to the entrance of your home.

What is the purpose of brick bonding?

Bonding is the industry term that’s given to the pattern in which the bricks are laid. Whilst the primary purpose of a bond is to ensure the brickwork is strong and stable, it can also have a dramatic effect on the visual appearance of a wall.

What are the rules for good brick bonding?

Rule-1. The bricks should be of uniform size. The length of the brick should be twice its width plus one joint, so that uniform lap is obtained. Good bond is not possible if lap is non-uniform.

Which are two common methods to bonding wythes of masonry together?

Structural bonding of masonry walls may be accomplished in three ways: (1) by the overlapping (interlocking) of the masonry units, (2) by the use of metal ties embedded in connecting joints, and (3) by the adhesion of grout to adjacent wythes of masonry.

What are the different types of brick bonding?

Types of brick bonding

  • 2.1 Stretcher bond.
  • 2.2 English bond.
  • 2.3 English garden wall.
  • 2.4 English cross bond.
  • 2.5 Flemish bond.
  • 2.6 Flemish garden wall (also called Sussex bond)
  • 2.7 Monk bond.
  • 2.8 Header bond.

What is herringbone bond?

The herringbone bond is a variety of raking bond in which units are laid at an angle of 45° to the direction of the row, instead of horizontally. Alternate courses lie in opposing directions, resulting in a zigzag pattern.

What is frog in brick?

Explanation: Frog is an indentation or depression on the top face of a brick made with the object of forming a key for the mortars. This reduces the weight of the brick also. It is kept on the top face while constructing a wall so that mortar is filled properly in it. Size of frog = 100mm × 40mm × 10mm.