SettingsSettings for this calculationUS
The combined length of all deteriorated joints being repaired.
Include both horizontal (bed) and vertical (head) joints being repointed.
The width of the mortar joint.
Measured on the WALL rather than taken from a specification, because old work drifts and repointing follows what is there. Volume scales directly with this, so a modest over-estimate across a large elevation is a large over-order. It also has a consequence nothing undoes: repointing at a wider joint than the wall was built with thickens every line on the elevation and changes how the brickwork reads permanently.
How deep the old mortar is raked out before repointing.
A common rule of thumb is raking out to a depth of at least 2-2.5x the joint width for a durable repair.
Repair mortar needed
2.507 gal
- Equivalent in cubic meters
- 0.01 m³
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Tuckpointing Mortar Repair Volume Calculator: 2.51 gal — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- Repair mortar volume = total joint length to be repointed x joint width x repair (raked-out) depth
Inputs used
- Total Joint Length to Repoint
- 165 ft
- Joint Width
- 0.39 in
- Repair (Raked-Out) Depth
- 0.75 in
Intermediate steps
- Equivalent in cubic meters
- 0.01 m³
What this calculation does not cover
- The volume is a plain rectangular prism: one width and one depth applied to the whole run. Deteriorated joints are not uniform — washed-out beds, voids behind the face and open collar joints in rubble stonework can take several times this figure, and you only find them once you start raking.
- It assumes you achieve the entered rake depth along the entire length. Where the existing mortar is still sound the rake stops shallower; around soft or friable units it runs deeper. Neither is reflected in the result.
- This is the mortar sitting in the finished joint, not the material you buy. It does not convert to bags of premix or to sand, lime and cement quantities — yield depends on the mix, sand bulking and what is lost to the board, the mixer and the scaffold — and it carries no waste allowance.
- Nothing here says what mortar to use. Binder type, strength and compatibility with the existing masonry decide whether the repair lasts or spalls the brick or stone, and on historic or lime-bound work that calls for mortar analysis and a conservation specification. A volume figure is not a mix specification.
- This is not a condition assessment. Cracking, bulging, displaced units, failed lintels, corroded wall ties and water getting in behind the face are not measured by joint volume, and repointing over a structural problem conceals it rather than repairing it.
Estimated cost — your price
This site holds no price list for this material — local prices vary too much to publish honestly. Enter your supplier's price and the result is costed with it.
Part of a bigger job
This trade is one line of a job takeoff. Run the whole job and every other trade comes back with it, off the same measurements.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-09-02 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.0.1
Regulatory standards & verification citations1
- Repair mortar volume = total joint length to be repointed x joint width x repair (raked-out) depth
Cite this page
Your workspace
Most jobs need more than one number. Add the calculators you need next and they open right here, underneath this one — your figures stay on screen and nothing is lost to a page change.
Tools and safety for this job
To mix mortar, rake out the mortar joints and repoint the mortar joints (tuckpointing). Generic types, no brands, no prices.
Protection this work requires
- Cutting or grinding concrete, masonry, screed, tile or fibre-cement board releases respirable silica: cut wet or extract at the tool, and wear a P2/N95 respirator at minimum — a nuisance dust mask does not filter it.
- Wet cement and lime burn skin and eyes painlessly until the damage is done: waterproof gloves to EN 374, safety glasses whenever the mix can splash, and never kneel in wet mix in permeable trousers.
- Saws, grinders and breakers run above 85 dB, where hearing damage accumulates and does not recover: defenders or plugs for every cut, not just the long ones.
- Breakers and grinders cause permanent nerve damage: limit continuous trigger time, keep hands warm, and stop if fingers tingle or blanch.
- Boards, blocks and bagged material cause most lasting back injuries on small sites: two people or a lifter for full sheets, and never a bag on one shoulder up a ladder.
- Most fatal falls on small jobs are from under three metres: use a tower or a ladder tied at the top, and never work off the top two rungs.
- Nailing, chiselling and cutting all throw fragments: glasses to EN 166 or ANSI Z87.1, and goggles rather than glasses overhead.
Repoint the mortar joints (tuckpointing): Pointing is within reach of a competent bricklayer. The mortar is chosen by what is already in the joint and how hard the brick is: a lime mortar goes back into a lime joint, and a cement one is never stronger than the brick and the old mortar; which one, its mix and its colour are the specification's or the surveyor's, and this site never prescribes a mix. On a listed building or in a conservation area the mortar may need the local authority's agreement first, which is not part of this item.
Show the 11 tools this job needsHide tools
Essential
Brick trowel and jointer
Dust sheets and masking
Plugging chisel and club hammer
Pointing trowel and hawk
Shovel and spade
Wheelbarrow
Recommended
Angle grinder
Brushes
Cement mixer
Dust extractor or vacuum with a fine filter
Mixing bucket or tub
Also needed as materials: cutting and diamond discs, masking tape, plastic sheeting.
what each masonry tool is for, and the spec that decides which to buy where one does.