cement work

Does your house have a sand-stone block or cement block foundation and are there gaps between seams of the blocks?

The concrete has worn away and the gaps may be letting air, rain or ground water into your basement. The water can cause mold or mildew which may be harmful to you and your family. The air coming through increases your heating bills.

I had gaps between the sand-stone blocks on the first house I remodeled. I could feel the air coming through and I knew it was increasing my heating bill. When it rained I could see the water running down the wall near the electrical panel and figured, that's not good.

In the basement I followed the drafts and when I found the gap where it was coming from I scrubbed the area with a wire brush and used expanding foam to block it. Some of the gaps where wide enough that I could see daylight from the outside I used the expanding foam on these areas too but it didn't look good on the outside. The excess foam can be cut off after it dries and it can be painted but I wanted the house to be as original as possible.

My nephew does cement work so I asked him what was the best way to fix the problem. It's called tuck-point. He explained to me about mixing the mortar and water to make "mud" but I could not seem to get the ratio right. Mine seemed watery and I didn't seem to have the patience needed, so I bargained: I figured since he had experience but didn't have the equipment, I would get the equipment and with his tutoring some experience. I bought the supplies on eBay I traded the equipment and paid a few extra dollars to my nephew to fix the problem. It was a win-win

I bought a hand grinder with and a few disk for tuck-pointing work, a couple canvas mortar bags, a couple wire brushes, a couple trowels, and I threw in a hammer made for stone working.

I figure that in the future if I need some more tuck-point work done I know where to buy the equipment or I'll know someone who has the tools. My nephew can do tuck-pointing work for others so I am helping him develop a small independent business, for himself, on the side.

He ground the gaps where the mortar had eroded and made an opening wide enough to fit the nozzle of the canvas mortar bag in. He then filled the bag and when he inserted the nozzle he twisted the bag to force the mortar into the opening. This part I'm not sure of but I believe that after the mortar was allowed to set for about 1/2 hour he used a stone mason trowel to remove the excess and help the mortar be formed to the contour of the block.

I had him tuck-point two houses for me the first one I had him do was the second one I was remodeling.. I had him build a basement wall on the inside and tuck-point the foundation on the outside. He also put cement block in were there had been an old coal-chute which left the basement open to cold weather, animals, and people. The second house, was the one I'm living in, he just did the outside because I had used the expanding foam on the inside.

So the tuck part must be forcing the mortar into the opening and the point part must be the part where it is conformed to the outside of the block to make it look good.

There are a multitude of paints and colors made for painting the stone or block work on a house. I can now paint over the cement blocks with whatever color will match the siding or I could have coordinated the siding and block colors before I started the remodeling. I thought of this after I had already finished the siding, good thing it was white. You and your family can draw up a remodeling plan before you start and decide what your family thinks will have the most eye appeal and feel like a home.

In the basement of the second house I had my nephew take out part of the wall that had started to lean in and push the blocks out. The bulge was under the front cement steps leading to the front door. I dug out the excess dirt and used a four foot level and a 2 ton hydraulic jack to pump the steps back to being level.

I than put house floor-jacks under the corners of the steps with a 4x4 across the top and bottom of the jacks so there is support all the way across the bottom of the steps and the support at the bottom will help distribute the weight evenly. The house floor-jacks are designed to be extended with a steel pin to hold it to a certain height then there is a top part to the jack that can than be adjusted and turned to take up the rest of the space. The floor-jacks were painted with thick rust resistant paint so they will not rust. Then I shoveled the dirt back into the space I had dug out under the steps and the floor-jacks were left in place and buried.

I than put marine grade plywood behind the wall. to help distribute the pressure from the dirt, and shoveled the dirt back under the steps. I had my nephew cement the blocks back in place.