I have some cracks in the mortar on one of my outer walls - some years ago a burglar tried to prise the door open with a spade and cracked the mortar. Anyway, it’s time to fix this. I’m thinking that I can simply brush a dry cement and sand mix into the cracks and then wet the wall. Good idea? Bad idea? Should it be a 1:1 mix of cement and sand or a 1:4 mix?
[QUOTE=Quartz]
I have some cracks in the mortar on one of my outer walls - some years ago a burglar tried to prise the door open with a spade and cracked the mortar. Anyway, it’s time to fix this. I’m thinking that I can simply brush a dry cement and sand mix into the cracks and then wet the wall. Good idea? Bad idea? Should it be a 1:1 mix of cement and sand or a 1:4 mix?
[/QUOTE]
The only real way to fix it is to chisel out the crack a bit, and force new mortar into the area. A grinder with a masonry blade will also work to enlarge the cracks if you don’t want to use a hand sledge and chisel.
I asked a couple of weeks ago about using Sackrete as mortar, and the unambiguous answer was concrete would not stick or hold up to supporting blocks. I assume this is also true for brick, and your use of the term cement is synonymous to concrete.
[QUOTE=Quartz]
I have some cracks in the mortar on one of my outer walls - some years ago a burglar tried to prise the door open with a spade and cracked the mortar. Anyway, it’s time to fix this. I’m thinking that I can simply brush a dry cement and sand mix into the cracks and then wet the wall. Good idea? Bad idea? Should it be a 1:1 mix of cement and sand or a 1:4 mix?
[/QUOTE]
There exist narrow chisels (just the width of the mortar line) for gouging out the 'tween bricks section. Then use a “grease gun” to squeeze pre-made mortar into the gouged-out section.