Best Tool For Removing Mortar

Whether you are an aspiring DIYer or a seasoned contractor, you need to have the right tool to get your job done. People who use inappropriate tools they have ended up for any task end up having imperfect results. Tool manufacturers design each tool for a specific purpose. The angle and size of the tool are designed for specific work, whether making a surface smooth or keeping a line. 

There are many tools available for removing mortar. You have several options to choose from, but everything boils down to your preferences, needs, price, and the amount of mortar to be removed. Mortar removal also depends on the tool efficiency. If you are working on a small section of a brick wall, you will need high-end tools for removing mortar. 

If you are there looking for a perfect tool for removing mortar, stay with us as we will unveil some of the best tools to work with. 

The following are our areas of interest in this guide:

How to build a brick wall

When setting up a brick wall, the following steps will guide you to achieve desired results:

Step 1: Start your brick wall at the corners

First, layout bricks at the ends of your wall to start the pillar. The laying out of bricks should be done after foundation preparation. To ensure a straight line guideline for the two bricks from the outside, use a string line.

Step 2: Mix the mortar

Next, heap about five shovels of sand and one of cement onto a board. Mix the sand and the cement until you achieve a consistent colour. Create a central hollow in the mixture and pour water into it. Mix repeatedly until the mixture attains a wet creamy texture. Ensure that the mixture is not too loose for effectiveness.

Step 3: Lay the first course of bedding mortar

This is the step where you lay a thin layer of mortar: about one to two centimetres along with the brick straight line. Start by laying the first brick as you tap it slightly to bed inward. Apply mortar on one end of the next brick in a “buttering up” manner and about it to the preceding one. Repeat the process and use the string line as your guide.

Step  4: Create the brick pillars

Place a brick on the side of the wall where you wish your pillar to start. Raise your wall while ensuring each consecutive course is laid in the opposite direction.

Step 5:  Cutting bricks

In the process of pillar building, at some point, you will be required to get rid of half-bricks at specific courses. Cutting a brick requires you to place it on its side and locate the bolster at the breakpoint. Strike the head of the brick firmly using a club hammer, and your brick will split.

Step 6: Keep the pillars one course ahead

Ensure you build a course higher on your pillar than the wall. Always move the string line up as you move to the next course. For a more stretched bond, the end of every brick should be over the middle of the underlying one.

Step 7: Make sure you’re sticking to 10mm mortar joints

The vertical and horizontal mortar joints ought to be 10 mm thick. For standard bricks, the joints from the top of every brick to the top of the one below should be 75 mm. 

Step 8: Add a coping stone

When you get to the top of your pillar, you may add a coping stone as you finish. Also, you may opt to make a pleasant effect by bedding bricks on their side into the mortar.

Step 9: How to finish the mortar beds

You will need to use a rounded edge brick jointer to scrape the mortar into the brick joints.

Step 10: Clean up

Using a wire brush, give the wall a gentle scrub to clean up mortar that may have fallen on the floor and bricks before drying up. 

How to remove mortar from bricks 

Bricks are pretty popular building materials. What makes them attract many people is the texture, colour, and structure of the mortar. Their appearance creates aesthetic beauty, and they are ideal for a good number of projects. Such projects include building houses, floors, fireplaces, floors and many others. Bricks have special properties which require a lot of care. 

You will need some sticky mortar for holding your bricks together to make an adhesive. The enormous task is not even holding them together but cleaning the mortar off the brick.

The process of applying mortar can be very messy, especially if the person doing the work has less expertise in mortar application or is not up to date with the best bricklaying methods. After applying the mortar, it will take a little time to dry off, and it is at this stage you will need to get it off your bricks.

The good news is mortar dissolves with acid easily. The scientific explanation for this is that brick is made up of an alkaline material; when the material meets the acid, it will dissolve in acid as it reacts to neutralize it.

The following steps will guide you when carrying out a mortar removing exercise.

1. Grind the horizontal joints first

Grind along the bottom and top of the horizontal joints to clean off the mortar while ensuring you get closer to the brick. Hold your grinder steadily with your hands and grind about ¾ into the mortar. 

Always start from the outside as you work inward. Working this way helps you avoid putting much pressure on the bricks at the corner, which can be knocked out of your wall. After you are done with the horizontal joints, work on the vertical one.

2. Knock out the mortar

Using a rotary hammer drill, move along the brick joints as you chisel the mortar out. Remember to keep your chisel off the bricks to avoid knocking them out. 

Set your rotary hammer drill on the rotating mode to ensure you apply less pressure on the bricks. Also, remember to work from the most outside corners towards the inside. As you remove mortar, the chisel point should always be in the mortar joints as you move the hammer. 

There isn’t any formula for removing mortar using a rotary hammer drill; all you need to do is hold it at an angle of about 45-degrees to your wall, squeeze its trigger and watch mortar fall out of your bricks.

3. Clean out the joints

Use a soft wire brush to wipe off the dust and debris out of the bricks’ joints. Check out if there is any mortar left and use the rotary hammer drill to knock it out. 

After wiping all the debris and dust off the joint, wash the joints with water. Fill the bucket with water and use a brush to clean the joints. Avoid hosing down the wall with water as you may soak everything, including where you will be kneeling or standing.

Our best tools for removing mortar