The row house on Frankford Avenue in Fishtown was built in 1904, about average for the block. The mortar was a Type S lime mix, off-white with a slight buff tint, in place since at least the 1970s. The front elevation needed repointing in the lower two thirds. I was hired to document the work for a home equity loan file, and what I did not expect was how much the job came down to color — mortar-matching color — and how much effort it takes to prove on camera that the match is actually right.
Why mortar color is the hardest thing to document
New mortar is darker than cured mortar. Any repointing job looks wrong on the day it is finished and right three weeks later, after the lime has set and the surface has carbonated. If you document the work on day one, you are documenting the worst it will look. If you wait three weeks, you may miss the window before the homeowner starts asking questions.
My solution was to document both stages: close-ups on day one to prove joints were fully filled and tooled, and a return shoot at day 21 for the cured color match. The day-one set went into the loan file; the day-21 set into a separate folder labeled as the cured record, with a note that the two sets were shot at different cure stages.
Camera setup for reading mortar color accurately
Color accuracy is a matter of white balance and reference. On a bright Philadelphia day, the light shifts from morning to afternoon by 1,000 K or more over a south-facing elevation. That shift makes mortar look different at 9 a.m. than at 2 p.m. even if nothing changed. My rule: shoot within a two-hour window at the same time of day on every visit, and put a color reference card in the frame.
For the Fishtown job I used a 24mm for wide elevation frames and a 50mm from 6 feet for joint profiles and the interface between old and new mortar. White balance fixed at 5,600 K — the front elevation faces east and was in morning shade for the shoot. I scheduled both visits for 9 to 11 a.m. The color reference card went in the lower left corner of every tight frame; it allows recalibration of the rendered mortar color if anyone challenges the accuracy of what the camera recorded.
What to shoot beyond the finished joints
The finished joints are the end of the story. The beginning is the raked joint depth. Before repointing, the old mortar should be removed to a minimum depth — typically three-quarters of an inch for lime repointing, up to one inch for harder mixes. I photographed the raked joints on three bays of the elevation before any new mortar went in, each with a metal rule inserted to show the depth. On this job the depth ranged from three-quarters to one and one-quarter inches, which I noted in the file.
Mid-work coverage captured the packing stages on a sample section: first fill, second fill, tooling profile. The mason was matching a weathered joint — the profile that sheds water toward the brick face — and I got close-ups of the tooling pass showing the angle. That angle distinguishes a correct weathered joint from a flat or flush joint that holds water.
Reading the before and after side by side
The day-21 return: same two-hour window, same reference card, same lens and white balance. The new mortar had lightened to within one shade of the existing lime mortar. Side-by-side crops from the same position showed the match was unnoticeable at 10 feet.
One section, about 8 linear feet at a corner where a previous patch had been done in Portland cement, did not match. The new mortar cured to a slightly lighter tone there because the existing repair was a different formulation. I documented that in a separate close-up set with a note explaining the existing repair, not the new work, was responsible — protecting the contractor from a match quality dispute.
Repointing on a single Fishtown row-house front elevation typically runs $1,500 to $4,500 depending on access, joint depth, and brick replacement needed. For pre-1930 lime mortar work, a Philadelphia masonry contractor with experience matching lime-based mortars and understanding the cure timeline is essential.
Frequently asked questions
When should I photograph repointing work — before, during, or after? All three stages. Before: photograph raked joints with a rule to show depth. During: document the fill and tooling sequence on a representative section. After day 21: document the cured color against the original mortar with a color reference card in frame. Day-one photos look different from cured photos and both are needed for a complete record.
How do I prove mortar color match in a photo? Use a fixed white balance, shoot in consistent light at the same time of day across all visits, and put a color reference card in every close-up frame. The card allows the rendered color to be recalibrated if anyone challenges the accuracy of the photo. Without a reference, color accuracy in mortar documentation is unprovable.
What joint profile should I look for in photos of row-house repointing? For pre-1930 brick buildings, look for a weathered or struck profile: one face of the joint is cut back at an angle so the lower edge projects slightly, shedding water outward toward the brick face rather than into the joint. A flat or flush joint on this type of masonry holds water and will deteriorate faster. The profile is visible in close-up photography at 50mm from 4 to 6 feet away.