Ready to hire?

Post your job in minutes, browse real reviews and choose who to speak to.Post a job

Need some tips or advice?

Bricklaying & Repointing

Lime or sand & cement?

Jonny 01/11/2026 - 4.20 PM

My daughter lives in a terraced house fronted with engineered brick. The whole frontage needs repointing and several tradesmen have said it should be pointed with lime mortar. Since the bricks are non-porous and don’t breath, why does the pointing need to be lime and breath? Surely the pointing mortar should have similar properties to the brickwork.?

Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?

1 Answer

Home Improvements Yorkshire Ltd

Rating: 3.7 out of 5

Hessle

Good afternoon. I am an accreditated damp and mould specialist trained by Professor John Edwards. I am guessing the building is a traditional building (pre-1919). The building will have a lime based mortar. This enables the brickwork to breathe. When rain hits the wall it will naturally soak in to the brickwork, and when it has finished raining it will naturally dry and the moisture will not be retained within the bricks. If it has been pointed with sand and cement the water will not be able to escape and water will penetrate to the inside of the walls. I hope this is not too confusing, Garry

Answered1 November 2026