How would you fill brick holes?

bchee · Dec 7, 2010

I have some drilled holes in bricks.
I would like to fill them and match the color.
They are about 1/2" wide and not very deep.

I already have mortar and colorant but would like a faster, easier alternative.
I heard about a caulk that has real sand in it.

Any suggestions? The caulk is appealing because the nozzle will easily fit in the hole.

rodnok1 · Dec 7, 2010

Find a hidden spot and dril a couple more holes and save the shavings, fill the holes with caulk and put some shavings in it on top, use clear caulk. I always save a couple bricks from any job just for patching and stuff like this. If you can get behind it like a crawl space drill the holes there.

bchee · Dec 7, 2010

I already have some extra bricks of the same color that I can sacrifice. I could try that.
How does it turn out? Does it look like the real thing?

rodnok1 · Dec 7, 2010

Usually matches very well, you're always gonna see the hole regardless but it'll blend in pretty well. If in doubt try it in one and check the results.

jmh21586 · Dec 7, 2010

This is the kinda work I do for a living. If you already have extra brick that match, simply take out the brick with the holes in them and put in a new brick.

Get a diamond blade for a grinder (carbide might work if mortar is soft enough) and cut out the mortar all around the brick in a far as you can go. Then use an air hammer or even a hammer drill with hammer only mode and a chisel, to take the old brick out.
Make sure you get it all out so a new brick will fit. Mix up a little mortar in a pail and put the new brick in. Spend $10 on some muratic acid at the hardare store, mix it 70% water, 30% acid and use a brush and wash it. Then rinse it with water and you're done.

Start to finish it would take me maybe 15 minutes for one brick.

tncatadjuster · Dec 7, 2010

The caulk is the way to go. If you let the caulk get tacky, take a popsicle stick and baste it with the powder off of a piece is cardboard, like food to a cat, if you get the idea. EASY. :beer:

It takes lots of powder, let the rain clean off the excess.

1969 · Dec 7, 2010

jmh21586 said:
This is the kinda work I do for a living. If you already have extra brick that match, simply take out the brick with the holes in them and put in a new brick.

Get a diamond blade for a grinder (carbide might work if mortar is soft enough) and cut out the mortar all around the brick in a far as you can go. Then use an air hammer or even a hammer drill with hammer only mode and a chisel, to take the old brick out.
Make sure you get it all out so a new brick will fit. Mix up a little mortar in a pail and put the new brick in. Spend $10 on some muratic acid at the hardare store, mix it 70% water, 30% acid and use a brush and wash it. Then rinse it with water and you're done.

Start to finish it would take me maybe 15 minutes for one brick.

What he said.

KenS · Dec 7, 2010

jmh21586 said:
Mix up a little mortar in a pail and put the new brick in.

Any recommendations on a mortar mix? Also, do you have to buy an entire 40- or 80-pound bag, or is there a way to get smaller quantities?

scooby074 · Dec 7, 2010

You could try a tile wholesaler near you, they have many caulks in various colours to match grout. Available in both sanded and non sanded.

If it was me, id just go to my local building supply and look for something in a redwood (or whatever) colour and go with that.

bchee · Dec 7, 2010

Problem is I have 28 holes. I'm trying to avoid using the mortar.

Re: mortar mix in smaller bags, HD has small 3 lb bags, but it's close to the same price as a 80 lb bag, both around $3 - $4

jmh21586 · Dec 7, 2010

KenS said:
Any recommendations on a mortar mix? Also, do you have to buy an entire 40- or 80-pound bag, or is there a way to get smaller quantities?

I don't know about smaller bags but an 80# bag will be less than $10.

Spec mix is what I use. Contractors grade. But you can go to Home Depot or any hardware store and get some other brands there. Just add water.

jmh21586 · Dec 7, 2010

bchee said:
Problem is I have 28 holes. I'm trying to avoid using the mortar.

Re: mortar mix in smaller bags, HD has small 3 lb bags, but it's close to the same price as a 80 lb bag, both around $3 - $4

28 holes in how many brick??

What color are the brick?

jmh21586 · Dec 7, 2010

Caulking is always going to look like caulking. Even the sanded stuff.
If all you're going to do is fill the holes just use mortar. At least it won't be a half-assed looking fix.

bchee · Dec 8, 2010

yeah I don't want it to look half-assed.
But it's 28 holes in 28 different bricks, so I also definitely don't want to take out that many bricks. I could very easily make it look worse.
Since I have so many holes I'll different methods and see how it looks.

jmh21586 what do you think about the the liquid cement color stuff by quikrete
http://www.quikrete.com/productlines/cementcolor.asp

jmh21586 · Dec 8, 2010

We use that type of stuff quite a bit. Mostly to experiment with colors until we find the right one. Then we order all our bags in the color we choose. We do large buildings and skyscappers. So we may go through 20-30 pallets of mortar.

Experiment with it. Let it dry good then wash it like I said. If you don't like it drll it out and try again. But it doesn't take much colorant to change the color of the mortar so start out with a little bit. Even half a cup can drasticaly change the color.

I've even used chalk line chalk to make black mortar on a side job.

jwillis · Dec 8, 2010

Quickrete makes a cement caulking in a (yellow) caulking type tube. I used quite a bit of it this summer. It has a rough texture and looks like cement. I used it on pavement to seal large cracks up to about 3/8". It worked pretty good. I also used it around the metal building/garage I just put in to keep the water from running under the building and into the garage. So it worked pretty good as a sealer. Maybe you could shoot some of it in an aluminum foil pie pan- mix in your coloring, and shove it down the holes you need to fill. Or just shoot it into the holes and try to mix you coloring with the top 1/2" or so and smooth it out. I think I would try this first before I started removing any bricks and tearing out the cement. That way you can see what one or two look like. You can also get Professional type construction cement. I used this for the same purpose as I did the Quickete. It works good too except it is smoother than the Quickrete. Good luck.

How would you fill brick holes?

bchee

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rodnok1

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jmh21586

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tncatadjuster

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1969

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