Tips on disguising this crack?

Frank99

I found this crack in my porch brickwork, I'm planning to scrape out any excess mortar and repoint it however, I have never had a crack in an actual brick before, any ideas on the best method without actually taking the brick out?

stuart45

It's much easier to whip out the brick. Are those squint angled bricks on the corner? If you look at the join, it's resin bonded and brick dust rubbed on the crack. You could do that in the crack, but it's a lot more work.
Structural Epoxy Fast Brick Bonding Adhesive : Structural Adhesives Ltd

Another_Level

How many more bricks are in need of attention ? Looks like a thermal crack but may be something else.

Could use a filler, like stonelux brick repair filler. In the crack & the right hand side mortar gap.

Personally if it was my place and just one brick is cracked, i would monitor the situation over time. ie leave it 

stuart45

I would guess that brick had a slight fracture in it when it was laid. Those type of bricks are hard but brittle. It's been cut as a 3/4 with either a trowel. brick hammer or bolster instead of an angle grinder or table saw. When you cut those bricks with a trowel etc
they often fracture in places you don't want them to. 
Is that the window or door next to it? If so it's a really small pier to be next to a frame. 
I can understand why a DIYer would be a bit wary of taking out the brick in that position, but it is really quite easy.

Frank99

Another_Level said:

How many more bricks are in need of attention ? Looks like a thermal crack but may be something else.

Could use a filler, like stonelux brick repair filler. In the crack & the right hand side mortar gap.

Personally if it was my place and just one brick is cracked, i would monitor the situation over time. ie leave it 

I thought about filling the crack in the brick and painting over the filler with stonelux orange brick paint.

Frank99

stuart45 said:

I would guess that brick had a slight fracture in it when it was laid. Those type of bricks are hard but brittle. It's been cut as a 3/4 with either a trowel. brick hammer or bolster instead of an angle grinder or table saw. When you cut those bricks with a trowel etc
they often fracture in places you don't want them to. 
Is that the window or door next to it? If so it's a really small pier to be next to a frame. 
I can understand why a DIYer would be a bit wary of taking out the brick in that position, but it is really quite easy.

I am very wary of disturbing the brick although because it is not a full brick i never cut bricks before. It is a doorway next to the bricks on the left, i did have a similar issue round the back on a conservatory with a crack in a brick but i smudged some soudal express cement into the crack and it worked that well that i can't find where the crack was however, those bricks were textured and easier to disguise but this porch one is smooth looking like an engineering type i notice.

stuart45

Class 2 engineering, or most extruded bricks with holes in them are a pain to cut, except with an angle grinder etc.
There's loads of cracked ones laid on site. They often crack if tapped into place. Often get left in.