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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.

Tuckpointing is a highly skilled time-honoured tradition of repairing and replacing crumbling mortar between stone and brickwork. This restores the brickwork/mortar and helps prevent deterioration to the structure by providing a weatherproof barrier against moisture.

The tuckpointing method was developed in England, in the late eighteenth century, to imitate brickwork constructed using rubbed bricks which were bricks of fine, red finish that were made slightly oversized, and after firing were individually abraded or cut, often by hand to a precise size.

When laid with white lime mortar, a neat finish of red brick contrasting with 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 and a fine fillet of white material, usually pipeclay or putty, pushed into the joints before the mortar set.

The term tuckpointing derives from an earlier, less sophisticated technique that was used with very uneven bricks: a thin line, called a tuck, was drawn in the flush-faced mortar, but left unfilled, to give the impression of well-formed brickwork.

Dwyer Heritage Restorations specialise in tuckpointing, the system we use is unique and has been approved by the PWD, CSIRO Materials Science & Engineering and leading Heritage Architects. It allows Dwyer Heritage Restorations to guarantee the white lines will not wash off.