Quikpoint Mortar Gun: Alternatives?

Tinstaafl

We finally got done installing (and caulking) the steel siding on that factory I posted about elsewhere--see 100 miles of caulk.

Ya just gotta love a customer who has money and wants to spend it, especially in these times. Now that all that shiny new siding is in place... NOW, he wants the entire building repointed. Can you spell "acid wash"?

ANYway, [I probably should have titled this "1,000 miles of mortar"] that's way more bricks than I care to try decorating with a bag. My homework is pointing me at the Quikpoint mortar gun, well worth the price for a job like this if it's as good as some of the comments I've read about it.

But being both cautious and a dyed-in-the-wool cheapskate, I thought I'd check in with the all-knowing pros here before plonking down the bucks for it.

Two questions really: Does anyone have negative feedback about that Quikpoint gun, and more importantly... does anyone know of a cheaper tool that works just as well?

Dben

we have one of those guns, and I'm not impressed. I sold it on ebay.
here's what we didn't like:
1: you have to mix the mortar fairly runny, thus it wants to roll down wall, making cleanup harder. especially on a wirefaced brick.
2: it doesnt hold much mortar? you will constantly be refilling that thing. and it's heavy heavy heavy!
3: you still have to strike it, and its usually still to wet to slick, thus its hard to make a nice face on your joint.
4: if you're on a swing stage,then its a pain in the butt because the mortar is too wet to brush. you can't move down to the next set.
and 5..as a 25 year tuckpointer, I'll flat out eat up anyone using that gun with my concave tool and a hawk.
so all in all, i'd say that gun is great for a homeowner who wants to make a mess and save a few bucks from having the work done professionally.

Cole82

X2 on the hawk and what ever striking tool is needed.

Tinstaafl

Thanks, guys. So, no bag either? <sigh>

Wish I had a smaller job and someone to teach me the "right" way before I tear into this.

Dben

those bags are great...if you're icing a cake!

Tinstaafl

If only mortar tasted that good.

Unfortunately, that's the only way the guys I'm working with (and who taught me what little I know about it) always do it. I've always thought there had to be a better way--as you said, thin enough to squirt means too thin to tool well.

I've been googling videos and it looks like the better way is to lay your hawk up to the joint and swipe a line of mortar off the edge of it and in, yes? And that beats any power tool you've run across?

We have gobs of real estate to practice on with this job, so I'm looking for any and all ideas to try. There's seldom one best answer for everyone, as that caulk thread illustrates. It's usually a compromise between personal abilities and tool features.

Dben

thats the way to go. We call that boarding. quick, a little sloppy, but if you're going to acid clean it..then go for it.
if you're not, then you're gonna have to learn to freehand. which you will have to do some of anyway.Because even if you board, you can't board the headers.
as far as any mechanical tools to point ..Ive never seen anything that will take the place of a good pointer. We're just that good! LOL

Tinstaafl

We're going to have to try doing without the acid, with all that new siding in place. So I guess freehand it is.

On the bright side, I ought to be pretty decent at it by the time we're done. Thanks!

Plumber_Bill

Quikpoint mortar gun: alternatives?

On my website www.parrsplumbing.com there is a page called more from the desk of Bill Parr. It is a blog showing some tools. On the more tools continued link you will see a black tube with a ball valve and a length of hose.

Here is what it was made for. Every once in a while we would get a fiberglass tub or shower that was weak and would move abit under the weight of a big man. I made this thing to give me a way of getting mortor groute under the tub or shower with out destroying the wall finishes. By removing baseboard and making a 1-1/4" hole I could groute as needed. In the plug that went in the end was a tire valve, I would fill the tube with morter put in the plug and connect a compressor set at 3-5 lbs. to the tire valve. By opening the ball valve I could move the morter with that little bit of air. By adapting this thing slightly you could probably make a pretty nice alternative to a morter gun.

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Tinstaafl

Thanks, Bill. I actually ran across something very similar being sold commercially in the course of looking for tools for this project.

Neat stuff on your website; some of the pics bring back memories. You should have been in cahoots with a patent attorney when you dreamed up some of those gizmos.