INDIANAPOLIS – Do you know what “repointing” bricks means? By definition, it consists of “removing a portion of the deteriorated mortar and redoing the joints with new mortar.” Doing that basically ...

You may not know this, but I received a bachelor of science degree in geology many moons ago. I was fascinated by the topic, and it helped me build houses and buildings that would not fail.

Q: I have a 45-year-old house built with adobe bricks that originally had black mortar used in between the bricks. Over time, the mortar faded from black to almost white. I was told that I could ...

Last week, I fielded no fewer than five phone calls from homeowner with the same grim news. They found it nearly impossible to get quotes from contractors to do fairly simple repairs. Each caller’s ...