# Can New Mortar and Brick Match an Old Wall? > How mortar color matching and brick matching work: sand, pigment, joint profile, sample panels, curing and salvaged brick. Then show us your wall. URL: https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/matching-mortar-and-brick/ New mortar and brick can come close to an old wall, and good mortar color matching gets near enough that the repair reads as part of the wall once it has cured and weathered. What decides the result is the sand in the mortar, the shape of the joint and, for brick, size and surface texture as much as color. Expect a slight difference at first rather than a perfect match on day one. [True Course Masonry Newark](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/) repairs brick, repoints joints and replaces damaged units across Newark and Essex County, with the work carried out by licensed and insured contractors. Matching is part of every job, from a few bricks under a sill to a whole elevation. The [brick repair service](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/brick-repair/) page covers the repairs themselves; this guide explains how the match is made. **Key takeaways** - The sand gives mortar most of its color and texture. Match the sand and the rest usually follows. - Joint profile and tooling change how a joint looks as much as its color does. - Mortar is judged only after it has cured and dried, because fresh mortar reads darker. - A sample panel on an inconspicuous wall is the only fair test before a whole area is pointed. - Brick is matched for size, texture, color range and hardness. A close color in the wrong size is not a match. - Salvaged brick from the same building is often the closest match available. ## What makes old mortar look the way it does An old joint has been weathering for decades. The binder at the surface has slowly worn back, so the sand grains stand proud and the joint shows their color and texture more than the binder's. Soot and dirt settle into it. That is why a repair mixed to match a broken-open piece of old mortar can still look too smooth and too uniform next to the weathered face of the original. NPS Preservation Brief 2, Repointing Mortar Joints in Historic Masonry Buildings, notes this directly: new mortar is matched to the unweathered parts of the old mortar, and the sand in old joints is more exposed. Three things drive the look of a joint: the sand, the binder and the tooling. ## Matching the sand and binder Brief 2 sets out that new mortar must match the historic mortar in color, texture and tooling, and that the sand must match the sand in the historic mortar, because color and texture usually fall into place once the sand is right. Sand varies by source in color, from near-white to tan, brown and gray, and in grain size and shape. A sample of old mortar can be broken down to see the range of sand grains in it (on significant buildings, a laboratory analysis is part of a [historic masonry restoration](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/historic-masonry-restoration/) scope), and suppliers carry sands that can be blended to come close. The binder matters next. A mortar made with white portland cement or lime reads lighter and warmer than one made with gray portland cement, and lime-rich mortars also stay softer and more breathable, which an older wall needs. Matching appearance never means choosing a harder mix, because repair mortar should always be weaker than the brick. The [lime mortar vs portland cement guide](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/lime-mortar-vs-portland-cement/) explains why. ## Mortar color and sample panels ### Pigments Some late nineteenth century mortars were tinted, often red with brick dust, or brown or black, to match or contrast with the brick. Modern synthetic mineral oxide pigments can reproduce that. Brief 2 limits them to no more than 10 percent of the weight of the portland cement in the mix, and carbon black to 2 percent, because too much pigment weakens the mortar. Pigment adjusts a mix whose sand is already close; it cannot make the wrong sand look right. ### Profile and tooling Old joints come in many profiles: flush, concave, weathered, struck, raked, or with a raised bead, as on true tuckpointing. A new joint tooled to a different profile catches light differently and will stand out even in a perfect color. Tooling at the right moment matters too. Brief 2 explains that a joint tooled while too soft dries lighter and can show hairline cracks, while one tooled too hard can streak dark. Where old brick edges have worn round, the new joint is held slightly back from the face so it does not look wider than the original. The [tuckpointing vs repointing guide](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/tuckpointing-vs-repointing/) covers profiles and what each name means. ### Sample panels A sample panel, or trial area, uses the proposed mix and the same cutting and tooling on a small section of the actual wall. It goes in a representative but out-of-the-way spot, and on a house with more than one kind of brick or joint there may be several. Each is judged after it has cured and dried, in daylight, next to the old work. When the owner and the contractor agree on it, the panel becomes the reference for the rest of the job. ### How curing changes the color Fresh mortar is dark while wet and lightens as it dries and cures, so a joint that looks wrong on the day it was pointed may be right a few weeks later. Cutting joints to the right depth first, as the [when to repoint brick guide](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/when-to-repoint-brick/) describes, matters too, because a shallow fill can crack loose along its edges and show as a patch however well its color matches. High-lime mortars keep changing for longer as the lime carbonates. Where a mix has been matched properly, Brief 2 says letting it age naturally is usually the best way to deal with remaining surface differences. If the difference is extreme, pointing a whole bay or feature can look better than scattered spots. ## Matching the brick ### Size and coursing Brick sizes have changed over time, and older brick is often a slightly different height or length from modern standard sizes. A brick that is a quarter inch taller throws off the coursing, so joints no longer line up and the repair looks patched. Size is checked before color. ### Color range, texture and hardness An old wall is a blend: bricks from different parts of the kiln fired lighter and darker, and decades of weather add more variation. A replacement brick of one even color looks flat in that setting. Texture matters as much: sand-struck, smooth, wire-cut and tumbled faces all read differently. Hardness and absorption matter for durability. A brick much harder or less absorbent than its neighbors moves water and stress differently, and that can damage the old brick around it. The [spalling brick guide](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/why-brick-spalls/) explains why. ### Salvaged and sourced brick The closest match is often brick from the same building. Sound bricks can sometimes be recovered from a part of the house being taken down, such as a chimney above the roof during [chimney rebuilding](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/chimney-rebuild/), a garden wall or an interior wall. Architectural salvage yards carry reclaimed brick of many ages and sizes. New brick can be chosen from manufacturers' ranges by laying samples dry against the wall in daylight. Salvaged brick should be checked for soundness, because old brick taken from an interior wall may be softer than face brick made for weather. Brick tinting or staining exists for small color corrections, tested first. ## How a matching scope reads A good estimate states which areas are being repointed or repaired, how mortar will be matched and where the trial area goes, and how replacement brick will be sourced. It should be honest that a fresh repair will look a little different at first. The [older brick home masonry guide](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/older-brick-home-masonry-guide/) explains how the wall type shapes those choices. If your house is brownstone, see the [brownstone repair and matching guide](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/brownstone-repair-and-matching/). For pricing, the [brick repair cost guide](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/guide/brick-repair-cost/) and the [brick pointing service](https://truecoursemasonrynewark.com/brick-pointing/) page explain what moves the number. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can mortar that cured in the wrong color be stained to match? Sometimes, but it is a fallback, not a fix. NPS Preservation Brief 2 calls staining new mortar generally not recommended, because stain can give an early match that drifts as old and new joints weather at different rates, and some staining mixtures can harm the masonry. A stain cannot change sand texture, joint profile or a mortar that is too hard. If the color is the only problem, a tested stain on a small area may help; if the profile or hardness is wrong, the joints need redoing. ### Why do replacement bricks that looked right in the yard stand out once they are in the wall? Because a single brick next to a sample is judged on color, while a wall is read on size, texture, color range and shadow. A brick a fraction taller changes the coursing, a smooth face reflects light differently from a sand-struck one, and a batch of one color looks flat next to an old wall's natural variety. Checking replacement brick laid dry against the wall, in daylight, before it is set, catches most of these problems. ### Where should a mortar sample panel go on my house? Somewhere representative but not prominent: a side or rear wall with the same brick, the same weather exposure and the same joint style as the area being repaired. NPS Preservation Brief 2 suggests avoiding the front or other highly visible spots, and using more than one location where a building has several kinds of masonry or joint. The panel is left to cure and judged dry, then kept as the reference for the rest of the job.