97 / 196
T W E N T Y T H I R D E D I T I O N
T H E B U I L D I N G C O N S E R VAT I O N D I R E C T O R Y 2 0 1 6
9 7
3.2
STRUCTURE & FABR I C :
MASONRY
lower arrises. The perpends were also struck,
typically from right to left.
As brick quality improved, joints became
thinner and more regular in size. As a result
this joint became refined as either a jointed
or pointed finish. The joints were struck
and trimmed precisely with a jointer and an
adapted knife called a ‘Frenchman’, guided
by the pointing rule. If after being struck
the joints were then ruled this was called
‘struck and ruled’, or ‘joints jointed’. By the
19th century it began to be called ‘overhand-
struck’, because it was indicative of being
profiled by working overhand, or from the
inside the wall, and also to distinguish it from
the new, and increasingly popular, ‘weather-
struck’ joint profile which was recessed at the
top of the joint.
Double-struck joint
A jointed profile formed by drawing the trowel
along the mortar, just in from the arris of the
upper course of bricks and then reversing the
action by cutting in behind the arris of the
lower bricks to produce an approximate raised
centre line. It is seen from the 15th century
onwards and was often used on high-status
Tudor buildings such as Hampton Court
Palace. Here there is a 1522 example of red
colour-washed brickwork with pigmented
double-struck joints which have been
pencilled white on the lower half of all the bed
joints and to one side of the perpends. This
technique reduces the aesthetic impact of the
large joints by 50 per cent.
Ruled joint
This joint became popular during the early
17th century when the desire for a refined
appearance of line and verticality were
paramount. The profile was formed, after
the face of the joints had been either slightly
flattened or struck, by running a thin-bladed
jointer, guided by the pointing-rule, along
the centre of the beds and perpends to form a
groove, typically 2–3mm wide. Depending on
the shape of the edge of the blade the groove
could be squared or slightly rounded. During
the later 19th century some craftsmen used
the edge of an old penny to effect the groove,
leading to the name ‘penny-round’ or ‘penny-
struck’ joint. This was never achieved, as some
have suggested, by grooving with the tip of a
trowel, as that would simply slice the joints
and is aesthetically unsatisfactory.
Tuck pointing
Tuck pointing appeared in the late 17th
century when it was known as ‘tuck and pat’
work. Reserved for the premier facades of
standard brickwork and for ‘axed’ arches
(with tapered bricks), it was used to mimic
the aesthetics of finely jointed gauged work.
Executed properly, it remains the most highly-
skilled area of pointing.
A backing or ‘stopping’ mortar, coloured
to match the bricks, was applied to the bed
and perpends and finished flush to the bricks
and then set out with a grid of very thin
grooves. The grid established level and plumb,
and the groove helped to lock-in the centre of
the rear of the lime putty and silver sand mix
which was applied over them using a jointer
guided by a pointing rule or ‘feather edge’.
This was then trimmed top and bottom with
the Frenchman to form precisely sized narrow
ribbons. Although usually cream coloured,
black and occasionally red ribbons were also
used in the Victorian period.
As tuck pointing was used to create the
illusion of fine, accurately bonded brickwork,
the ribbons of mortar are often found to
have been applied across the faces of the
colour-washed bricks to create entirely
fictitious perpends, and sometimes to correct
discrepancies in courses too.
Bastard tuck
Less common, this profile is seen as a skilfully
executed jointed or pointed finish. A less
sophisticated version of tuck pointing, it was
used to create neatly finished ribbons. When
jointed this was achieved by carefully cutting
the bedding mortar with the Frenchman just
in from the arrises. When pointed, a neutral
stopping mortar would be applied, flushed
and grooved, with the same stopping mortar
laid on in the manner of true tuck pointing,
and trimmed to form ribbons. These ribbons
were also occasionally pencilled to finish and
emphasise them.
Weather-struck joint
Dating from the 19th century and most
common in civil engineering work, this profile
is formed by compressing the top portion of
the joint more than the lower, inclining the
blade of the trowel or jointer as the joint is
finished in a one-direction stroke. This causes
the upper edge of the joint to come slightly in
from the arrises of the upper bricks and flush
with the upper arrises of the lower bricks (and
never protruding). The perpends, which are
struck first, are sloped from left to right, to
angle it flush to the neighbouring brick.
When the trowel is used to form this
profile on the bedding mortar it is called
‘weathered jointing’. A superior pointed finish,
‘weather-struck and cut’, involves the profiled
joints being trimmed using a feather-edge and
the Frenchman. Traditional pointers did not
use trowels to strike the joint, instead using a
technique based on tuck pointing that created
a regular, accurate and subtle profile. When
executed in cement-rich mortar with heavy
profiling, this joint can be very ugly indeed.
CONSERVATION PHILOSOPHY
When repairing or conserving historic
brickwork it is easy to overlook the original
profile where worn and eroded, and many
buildings repointed in recent years have
now lost all trace of their original details.
The result has a dramatic impact on the
character of the original brickwork. Before any
repointing is carried out, it is most important
to carry out a thorough survey, carefully
examining sheltered areas for the original
profile and for traces of colour. Any variation
from the original aggregate, mix, profile and
colour should only be made where there is
clear evidence that the original would be
harmful to the surviving brickwork.
GERARD LYNCH
MA PhD is a master
brickmason, historic brickwork consultant
and author of several books on historic
brickwork – see
www.brickmaster.co.uk.
He trained through the apprenticeship
system and at Bedford College where he
later became head of trowel trades. He is
internationally recognised for his extensive
specialist knowledge and skills in the
conservation, repair and re-pointing of
traditional and historic brickwork.
A thin-bladed jointer run along a bed joint, guided
by the levelled ‘pointing rule’, to create a ‘ruled’
joint. see
www.brickmaster.co.uk. (All images and
examples on this page by the author)
An example of fine and accurate tuck pointing
A selection of traditional-styled brick jointers
available from The Red Mason range
An example of early 18th century white coloured
‘pencilling’ applied over a ‘ruled’ joint in Woburn,
Bedfordshire