Questions to ask Brickie repointing work

[BathDIY]

Are you in Bath? Yellow limestone and all that?

Sorry missed your comment no the bricks are standard LBC, this side of the house gets the most weather and these bricks do seem rather porus.

just give him a basic specification of how you require the work to be done

I get that but as a layperson its difficult to come up with a spec to match, the raking out I understand but as for the mix and finish I'm a bit lost.

successfully done by a diyer with the required attention to detail

I would consider but not good with heights.

 

[^woody^]

I get that but as a layperson its difficult to come up with a spec to match

It's not rocket science, and there is no need to be elaborate, you just tell someone what you want doing and how you want them to do it and then that is the specification

• I want the joints raked out to 25mm deep with a power tool and not a hand chisel. I will provide electricity for you to use.
• I will check the raking out before each area is repointed. Do not proceed with any repointing of areas until agreed.
• You must provide a scaffold and keep it clean and tidy. Remove ladders at the end of the day.
• Use building sand/cement mix of 4:1 ratio with no additives.
• Batch every mix to ensure the mortar is a consistent colour once dry. Any arrears of differing shades may need to be removed and replaced at my discretion.
• Use a soft brush and powered blower to clean out all joints of all dust and debris
• Pre-wet all joints thoroughly before repointing.
• Brush the wall at the end of the day but do not leave any brush marks in the face of new mortar - re tool any affected joints.
• 'Top and tail' all joints and neatly cut off all surface snots.
• Replace any cracked bricks or any which chips greater than 20mm
• You must not create a lot of dust. Any visible dust must be cleaned down from all surfaces at the end of the job.
• Brush or lightly wash down the wall with clear water once the elevation is complete to remove all dust residue
• The payment schedule is .....
• The work must be completed by ....
• No radios to be played on site

Or you can throw in some cover all items such as

• Work generally to be in accordance with BS 5628-3:2005
• Mortar to be to BS EN 998-2:2016

But the problem with specifying standards is that no-one actually knows them or reads them, and you are not really doing yourself any favours, just creating unnecessary uncertainty.

 

[stuart45]

Reminds me of the old seaside B&B landladies.

 

[BathDIY]

Thanks so much, Woody for the time you have taken with this.

We have loose beads of insulation in the cavity so how should they deal with bricks if there are cracks in this instance?

Yes, no one reads or understands standards the idiot who cocked up the job in the first instance claimed that he met standards, even I can tell this is rubbish.

 

[johnny2007]

Use building sand/cement mix of 4:1 ratio with no additives.

Don't you use plasticizer for repointing?
I do.

 

[johnny2007]

No radios to be played on site

This will make me run away.
Repointing is already a boring job, without a radio you'll need a few special fags to go through the day...

 

[^woody^]

Don't you use plasticizer for repointing?
I do.

They were examples

 

[^woody^]

This will make me run away.
Repointing is already a boring job, without a radio you'll need a few special fags to go through the day...

Its better to have a ban, and then relax it if need be. Otherwise, certain people will just rock up with their beat box and turn it up so they can hear it over the grinder noise.