Article Written By: Joyce Tucker
Tuckpointing is an essential process in order to maintain the solidity of the wall by fixing a cement join in a brick wall. It originated in England attributed in the city of London to refer to a process of preventing water and other foreign objects to enter into the bricks. That is why it is called tuckpointing brick.The people that are masters of this craft are called tuckpointers. Basically, tuck pointing came from the manner it is done and from the materials used in the process. The first syllable came from the manner how you do the trade; tucking, and the next syllables came from the pointing trowel that is used in the process. Tuckpointers use variety of tools depending on the tuckpointer and the country since different countries have different kinds of tools used in executing the craft.The process involves very systematic processes: first, to tuckpoint the mortar joints; the second, to fix the mortar into the joints so that it will blend with the construction of the surrounding. It is a must in masonry to have the mortar off-faced; the last, to keep the tuckpoint repair damp to allow the mortar to be cured properly.Mixing is very essential because tuckpointing will never be possible without mixing the mortar for the process. Mixing should observe right proportion because if not, the quality of the wall will be greatly affected. Remember, modern homes have lower cement ratio. The best step is to mix a small quantity of mortar consistently with a liquid latex binder to produce good results. This is just like mixing a pudding using your trowel.Tuck pointing is impossible without the mixing of the mortar. It is just basic masonry work. It just deals with sand and cement mixing plus with other materials such as a liquid latex binder. The proper proportions and ratios of the components of the mixture determine the hardness and the quality of the mortar. The less material used the uglier the results.Since the process came from tucking you are going to insert a mixture into the brick wall by using a pointing trowel. Combining those two important words to the process: tucking and point trowel, you get tuckpointing.It may seem odd but the word explains itself and is undoubtedly a very useful craft.
This Article Has Been Published on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 and Read 266 Times