# Staining of existing mortar??

**URL:** <https://forum.4specs.com/t/staining-of-existing-mortar/3990>\
**Category:** Specifications Discussions\
**Created:** [July 27, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://forum.4specs.com/t/staining-of-existing-mortar/3990 "2023-07-27T19:05:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Phil\_Kabza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Phil\_Kabza](https://forum.4specs.com/u/Phil_Kabza)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://forum.4specs.com/t/staining-of-existing-mortar/3990/1 "2023-07-27T19:05:00Z")

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Reaching out to see if colleagues have had any experience with “fixing” mortar color by applying stain. Contractor used wrong color mortar and is now proposing this solution in lieu of an extensive tear down. Dubious.

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**Author:** ![khercenberg](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex047/user_avatar/forum.4specs.com/khercenberg/32/104_2.png) [@khercenberg](https://forum.4specs.com/u/khercenberg)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://forum.4specs.com/t/staining-of-existing-mortar/3990/2 "2023-07-27T19:17:31Z")

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I’ve had to stain entire brick walls and CMU walls For correcting mortar I would prefer repointing. Please do not use paint.

Consider contacting Nawkaw, Edison Coatings, and Jahn/Cathedral stone to see what, if anything, they can do.

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**Author:** ![bunzick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a587f6/32.png) [@bunzick](https://forum.4specs.com/u/bunzick)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://forum.4specs.com/t/staining-of-existing-mortar/3990/3 "2023-07-27T19:25:46Z")

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I’ve only ever corrected this with repointing. One thing to consider: leave it as is with the wrong color (gasp!). Of course, I don’t know what it looks like, but, this may be one of those situations where the fix may be worse than the cure - is it really going to look better after all that remedial work? I’ve made this mistake (though not with mortar color) and after rework it looked worse because it looked patched. A sizable credit to the owner could be on the table approaching the cost of the rework.