Flagstone Patio Repair and Brick Porch Repointing in Washington, DC
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Scope of Work
Project Overview
This was a two-part repair project at a property in Washington, DC. The client wanted the joints on their flagstone patio fixed and the mortar on their brick front porch repointed.
The patio is flagstone set over a CR6 and stone dust base, about 18 feet by 15 feet. The polymeric sand in the joints was washing out in spots, so the client wanted it redone. We told the client up front that this is a repair, not a permanent fix, since we did not install the original patio foundation and cannot control future wash-out.
The porch is brick with failing mortar joints, and the client had tried to fix it several times before without it holding. The brick itself was in good shape and there was no sign of foundation problems from the surface, so we repointed the joints rather than rebuilding anything.
Before / AFTER
Site Conditions
The Property and Site Conditions
The patio sits on a CR6 and stone dust base with flagstone on top. The joints between the stones had lost sand in several areas. The steps leading to the patio have a concrete foundation with a mortar joint, so the client understood that those joints would not match the polymeric sand joints we installed on the patio surface.
The front porch had old mortar that was breaking down across the top landing, the middle landing, both sets of steps, the four surrounding walls, and up to the door. Since earlier repair attempts had not held, the goal was to grind the joints out fully and repoint the whole area rather than patch spots.
ASSESsMENT
What We Did
Flagstone Patio Repiar
First, we removed all of the old polymeric sand joints from the patio. Next, we spreaded out new polymeric sand on top and brushed it into the joints until every spot was filled. After that, we wet the sand to activate it. Keep in mind the steps for the patio have a concrete foundation with a mortar joint, so those joints stayed as they were and did not match the polymeric sand joints we installed.
Front Porch Brick Repointing
For the porch, we first removed all of the joint mortar from the front entry as needed. Then we applied new mortar matched as closely as possible to the old mortar to help it blend in. We did let the client know it would not match perfectly because of the age of the original mortar. Like the patio, this was a repair rather than a rebuild, since we did not install the original porch and were solely providing the mortar repair.
Completed Project
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