Repointing a house

A question about : Repointing a house

We need to repoint our house - an end of terrace in Coventry. How much do you think we would expect to pay? We've thought of doing it ourselves but by the time we've hired one of those scaffolding towers I think it may be more cost effective to get a pro in.....and of course we don't know what we're doing... :confused:

Best answers:

• A pro would probably have to hire a scaffolding as well though, it's not a difficult job for the DIY er but a pro would be quicker, thus reducing the hire of the scaffolding costs.
• Some tips
  https://www.stastier.co.uk/index.htm?...hl.htm~rbottom
• Where do you want to point it to?
• The whole house needs repointing up to the roof line! The house was at one point pebbledashed which was removed by previous owners...so the pointing has got damaged.
• Think this IS a job for someone who is more skilled/experienced.
  We had an 'odd job man' do ours after we'd had the walls sandblasted.
  Messed it up so badly, we had to get the sandblasting repeated!!
  VB
• I've recently had the front of my house done. (a victorian terraced cottage). My mate's a brickie, so he could do the actual pointing. However, he said the old mortar (bit between the bricks) had to be raked out first to a depth of about 6mm. He didn't want to do this bit and he insists that most brickies won't - i presume it's a labourer's job.
  Anyway, I borrowed a tower from a friend, and got to work with a club (big) hammer and a chisel (get a "plugging chisel" if poss). This was fairly slow work - about a day and a half to get three quarters done. the brickie then turned up and got the rest out using an angle grinder with one disc on top of another (DON'T try this at home!)
  Upshot: he said he would normally charge about Ј100 a day for the pointing alone (should take about 2 days dependent on weather).
  So, you're maybe looking at:
  Ј200 for the pointing.
  Ј up to Ј100 for tower hire (although brickie / builder may have own)
  Јapprox 200 to rake out the mortar.
  Although, you could do this yourself, you just need: a head for heights, about 2 days, access to a tower ( a ladder won't do), a club hammer / lump hammer, a masonry bolster or plugging chisel.
  Really Important :
  Wear Goggles. Try not to chip edges / face of bricks.
• Not a job for any builder but any bricklayer should be able to do re-pointing.
  I run a building company (Southampton area - rates will vary round the country) and when subcontracting this work I would expect to pay around Ј20/m2 for raking out and re-pointing plus tower hire.
  That's what you could expect to pay a bricklayer direct or up to twice that to a building company (with offices, secretary, etc.)
  General tradesman rates per day at the moment are:
  Bricklayer, carpenter, roofer Ј120 - 150
  Painter Ј100-135
  Good multi-skilled Ј135-200
  Plumber, Electrician Ј150
  Corgi registered plumber Ј200-250
  Some local authorities (Hampshire and Surrey, for sure) have a Buy With Confidence scheme listing reputable tradesmen on their website - look for the Trading Standards part of the site of your local authority.
  Hope that helps.
• Hi,I am a bricklayer and I charge Ј17 a metre for pointing.It is a job that has to be done off a scaffold,dont trust any body who says they will point a whole house off a ladder!You will also find that not all bricklayers will take a pointing job(it can be mind numbingly boring apart from anything else)If you can rake the joints out yourself you may get it cheaper.If you cannot get any one local,or just want more advice, feel free to contact me I'm not that far away from Cov(Coleshill)Good luck.
• Earlier comment on a brickie raking out to a depth of 6mm. This is insufficient, and will eventually fall out.
  12mm is recommended, but brickies hate this work, and you will rarely see this done properly. Ask around, you may need someone who really does take pride in their work. Also check on the actual shape of the pointing, especially if you have older bricks.
• Nobody got any views on the cost of sandblasting (or any other method) the brickwork, or the best place to look for a quote, as mentioned earlier in the thread...?
• Lush Walrus - That's brilliant, many thanks - I didn't think sandblasting souned right.
  As you suggest, I don't think I'd fancy trying that stuff myself, it looks very messy.
  In terms of doing a Yellow Pages search, what should I be looking for to find a company to do this kind of work. As I said in my earlier post, putting things like 'stone and brickwork cleaning' is coming up with big boys, who are only interested in large commercial jobs than my wee semi.
• Have a look on https://www.buildingconservation.com/ they are basically a directory for conservation specialists (which this form of paint removal would come under).
  All of the companies on there will vary in size, but it will give you a lead to start with. If you do find someone in your area, but they are too large to deal with that form of work then ask if they do know anybody who would consider work of that scale. Its a small world in these specialist fields, so many know of each other.
• Have been thinking about scraping out the old cement myself and getting a brickie to actually repoint the house. This however is going to take me a while and was wondering if I did this over a period of say a month would it cause more harm because damp would be able to penertrate more easily.
  I live in Ipswich and have been quoted around Ј21pm2 which I hope is not a rip off but with me doing half the work myself am hoping to bring the price down a bit.
  If anyone can recommend anyone in the area I wwould be forever gratefull
• I would be very careful in picking a builder for brick pointing, it's very tedious and boring work and there's a lot of temptation to use tools like angle grinders. This is not good as it can damage your walls leaving unsightly marks.
  I definitely suggest getting personal recommendations from friends.
• Ok, here go's when it comes to pointing you need to take account of a few things, the brick, its condition, the current type of pointing all of these thing will effect the final out come of the job, example, if the building is victorian it will probably have a lime based mortar which in most cases will rake out of the joints easily however and this is common if it has been re-pointed before and someone has re-pointed with a cementitious (cement based) mortar and again all too often made the mortar too strong (more cement than needed) it can be a nightmare to remove (as the mortar should always be weaker than the masonry) because when it had been originally raked out and the wall then dampened (to assist in the new mortar bonding to the old) if the joint dries out before the new mortar is applied this can cause the mortar to fall out in patches in the future leaving you with a wall that needs patch pointing with the problems mentioned earlier, as far as raking the joints out go's as a brickie i spent many years using the old cold steel and hammer but if the bricks are of a soft type either originally or through age this can cause a whole load of chipping making the job look unsightly i personally use what i think will be the best tool for the job each job being different, when it comes to angle grinders i do use these on the older property however it's a small easy to handle 18v 115mm cordless grinder by Dewalt which just so happens to have a distance from the motor housing to the edge of the disc of around 12-15mm which as mention earlier is about spot on for re-pointing this with a 6mm mortar joint raking disc is ideal, as far as cost go's all the previous points plus many others are taken in to account when pricing ie, bond of the existing brickwork (Englist and Dutch bond having more joint work than stretcher bond) final pointing type Flush, Struck weathered and rounded to mention a few, I usually charge between Ј15 and Ј27 /m2 subject to access etc, i hope this helps.
• Can anyone tell me how I find a reliable person to repoint my house please, as there are a lot of cowboys out there and I am very worried about this. I don't know of anyone who has this work done especially as I don't know many people in my local area so I don't know where to start. Any advice/suggestions would be appeciated please
• I am a Coventry based roofer and have been working in the industry for 30 years. There is quite a lot more involved in repointing than many people think. If you repoint the late victorian/Edwardian red brick houses with a strong cementious mix (sand/cement) you can cause damage to the brickwork in a very short period of time. This is because the mortar can actually prevent the wall from 'breathing', (or the release of vapour through the joints). In turn, the moisture releases through the bricks instead, and can result in severe frost damage during the colder weather. You need to make sure that the mortar used is not stronger than 1:3 mix, or that lime is used to help breathing and flexibility properties of the mortar. (6:1:1) Also. if the mortar is stronger than the bricks, (as can be common in the edwardian soft brick construction), then any movement in the structure (again not unknown in these properties) can cause the bricks to crack, rather than the mortar joint. (far easier and cheaper to repoint than replace cracked brickwork).
  In short, get someone that knows what they are doing and get them to use the correct mortar. 6mm is insufficient depth for repointing, it should be between 10 and 25 mm depending on the type of brickwork..in these houses, I opt for 25mm depth. Angle grinders are fine to use, but make sure all dust is washed out of the joints otherwise it will impede bonding; just be careful not to cut into the bricks, as this is unsightly. Cost wise, expect to pay around Ј150-Ј200 per day for labour, plus your scaffold charges and materials. Do not skimp on the pennies; get it done right or you will pay later.