Mortar joint finishes fall into two classes: troweled and tooled joints. In the troweled joint, the excess mortar is simply cut off (struck) with a trowel and finished with the trowel. For the tooled joint, a special tool, other than the trowel, is used to compress and shape the mortar in the joint.

 

Of the mortar joints illustrated below, only the concave, v-shaped, grapevine, and weathered are recommended for exterior use.