Tuckpointing
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Tuckpointing is a way of using two contrasting colours of mortar in brickwork, one colour matching the bricks themselves, to give an artificial impression that very fine joints have been made.
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[edit] History
The method was developed in England in the nineteenth century to imitate brickwork constructed using rubbed bricks (or rubbers): bricks of fine red finish which were made slightly oversize and then individually abraded or cut, often by hand, to a precise size after firing. When laid with white lime mortar a pleasing finish of red brick contrasting with a very fine white joints was obtained. Tuckpointing was a way of achieving a similar effect using cheap, unrubbed bricks: these were laid in a mortar of a matching colour (initially red but later blue-black bricks and mortar were occasionally used) and a fine fillet of white material, usually pipeclay or putty, pushed into the joints before the mortar set.[1]
[edit] Other usage
In some parts of the United States and Canada, some confusion may result as the term is often used interchangeably with "pointing" (to correct defects or finish off joints in newly laid masonry) and "repointing" (to place wet mortar into cut or raked joints to repair weathered joints in old masonry).[2]
[edit] Tuckpointing Tools
Professional "tuckpointers" use tuckpointing tools, which depending on country and local trade terminology sometimes call them "jointers" and also "tuckpointing irons (Primarily in London around where the trade originated)."
The tools themselves are made from a hardened quality tool steel and shaped with a sharp pointed front with a flat base. And have a wooden handle attached with a brass ferrel.
Thicknesses or widths of tuckpointing tools vary between anything from 2mm to 10mm depending on personal preferences of the tuckpointer themselves. Standard tuckpointing tools most commonly used in industry are usually 4mm and 6mm thick.
Lengths of tools also vary depending on personal preferences, but the most common lengths are usually between 75 and 125mm long tools. However professionals sometimes like a much shorter tool for instance a 30mm long tool which is flat on the front in order to get into those hard to reach spots for instance under window brick work and in hard to reach corners.
Tools are sometimes "beaded". This means that a small rounded fillet is ground into the flat of the tuckpointing tool that comes into contact with the "perps" or "lines" in the brickwork. ("Perps" are bricklaying terminolgy for the gaps between the bricks which mortar runs in the vertical direction or perpendicular to the ends. "Lines" run in horizontal direction).
Tuckpointing is a farely rare but not forgotten trade these days. Many historic homes with stunning classic italianate architecture like the Werribee Mansion, in Victoria, Australia west of Melbourne, show good examples of recent tuckpointing which show the contrast between the tuckpointed white lines in the mortar between the bluestone architecture. Tuckpointed homes are visually appealing to any generation because they bring out the lines in the brickwork.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Walls, repointing brickwork Ministry of Defence (Defence Estates), Sutton Coldfield, England, accessed 2007-10-17
- ^ Repointing (Tuckpointing) Brick Masonry Masonry Advisory Council, Park Ridge, IL, U.S.A. accessed 2007-10-17
[edit] External links
Pointing Pictures of original and restored tuck pointing, accessed 2007-10-17.
[1]Speedex Tooling - Manufacturers of tuckpointing tools and frenchman's knives. Pictures of tuckpointing tools.
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