Hit 1,000 repoints on one wall in Portland, never again

Old warehouse job last month, spec called for full repoint on 8,000 sq ft of brick. I kept a tally on my phone, hit 1,000 individual joints by Thursday morning. That number shocked me because I thought I was maybe halfway done. Turns out repointing eats way more mortar and time than any new build I've done. My helper quit after day two, said his wrists were shot. Anyone else ever track their joint count on a big repoint? How do you bid those jobs so you don't lose money?

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lucasjackson10d ago

I bid repoints at about three times what I'd quote new brickwork, and I still get burned sometimes. The trick is counting corners and windows before you start, because those joints eat up way more time than the flat walls. Track your hours on the first 500 joints, then multiply that by the total square footage and add 20 percent, that math has saved me from losing money on every big job since.