Opinions on repair work

[Aurelio]

We’ve recently had the pebble dash removed from our Victorian semi, with minor repairs to brickwork and repointing in lime mortar. We don’t have the budget to replace all of the bricks. I guess I’m looking for reassurance that the pointing is more or less correct.

I’m just looking for an opinion on the pointing? The masons work for a well known company but just want a second opinion.

Thanks

 

[aockenden]

Looks good to me personally. What kind of lime did they use?

 

[Aurelio]

That’s good to know. NHL3.5

 

[aockenden]

That’s good to know. NHL3.5

Gotcha. In the future when dealing with old, potentially soft and porous bricks I might suggest asking them to use NHL 2 instead just to be safe so you don't get any spalling damage to the brick faces caused by freeze-thaw cycles. It's a bit softer (and somewhat more breathable) than 3.5 which helps buffer the expansion and contraction of the masonry during temperature and moisture fluctuations. NHL 2 should be close-enough in behavior and format to NHL 3.5 that it won't scare them off. You'll probably be fine though.

 

[stuart45]

It looks a good job, although with pointing it's easy to take a lot of shortcuts and sti!l end up with the same look. Not raking out properly, not cleaning out the joints, not damping down the brickwork properly, not mixing up the mortar for long enough can save people a lot of time when working on a price.