Garden Wall Repointing - comment on plans wanted please

[rivercatch]

Hi all - first time here!

I was looking to get some advice and see if I could improve on my plans. I've done a search from the site and this is the plan.

Problem
Standard 1880's Victorian redbrick end of terrace house. The garden walls front and rear (and not part of the main house) needs repointing. It appears to be original or at least very old with very soft mortar that you can pull out with just fingers. About 15 years ago part of the rear side wall fell down and was rebuilt with modern reclaimed brick and cement mortar (this is still in good condition).

The walls and mortar are in pretty poor condition (the actual bricks seem fine). I've raked out a small section. I go in about 2 inches before I get to clean mortar which has some resistance (but it is still soft), and it would be easy to pull out whole bricks with just fingers in the worst spots. About a 10m run of wall in total.

Plan
1) Use a non-hydraulic medium lime mortar. I want a pre-mix so I'm proposing to use something like http://www.lime-mortars.co.uk/lime-mortar/non-hydraulic/25kg/medium-stuff
2) Then, working in sections about 2m wide
3) Rake out all the old mortar, remove whole bricks where they are falling out
4) Replace whole bricks by laying a bed of mortar and then placing the brick back on it
5) Repoint from top down, forcing mortar as deep as possible including top and sides of replaced bricks, leaving mortar flush with brick with a slight angle - weatherstruck?

Questions
I assume cement mortar is not advised - no?
At what point do you not bother with repair/repointing and just rebuild the wall? (our bias is to conserve rather than replace).
A practical consideration is that I have to negotiate with the neighbor on the shared wall.
What happens (physically not legally) if I repair/repoint my side of the wall and they do nothing?

Finally can anyone suggest a source of lime mortar in SW London where I can buy & collect. The chain building suppliers seem very poor on premix lime mortar.

Many thanks

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

Replacing individual bricks is extremely fiddly, unless they are the top course. Getting the mortar bed the same height as the general run is difficult. With a single brick wall, you have to get to the other side to inspect and for a double brick wall, you can't hold the brick as you try and insert it into the hole. I would do every thing possible to re-point only.
Using lime you will have to keep the wall slightly wet for a week or two! Use the coarse stuff and when its gone off a bit, brush the face to expose the sand. Look around for a narrow pointing iron (6mm), the big places only have 10+ mm, I have a great selection of "pokey" tools to get mortar into holes.
Because I am right handed I start at top right and work right across (say 3 courses down), this is because I would use the same ladder. then wash out the wall and restart next three courses on extreme right (different ladder set up?) .
A pump up garden sprayer is invaluable for this job, if the mortar is as bad as you say, you will be able to wash it out. A pressure washer or garden hose are only suitable for dampening large areas of the wall and not washing out grot from the joints.
Frank