Removing nasty cement pointing from stone cottage

[417welly]

Hi all

I've just bought a period stone house inappropriately pointed with a strong cement mix.
In an ideal world, I know it needs to come off and be replaced. I've done the same job on my current house so i'm fine with how to repoint stone with lime (extremely therapeutic and highly recommended for those who are thinking of giving it a go!)

So what's the issue? - well problem is on this building is the cement pointing is smeared over nearly 50 % of the surface faces of the stone and is pretty welded on. Best i think i could achieve is cutting out some joints but there would still be a lot of the existing cement left around the joint edges and stone faces. Anything beyond that i think i'd just end up damaging the stone trying to get any more cement off

Questions are:
1) Is this worth even attempting - would what i could achieve even be worthwhile or better just to accept as is and leave alone?
2) If i go ahead, Any tips or method suggestions for getting the bloody stuff of gratefully received!

Cheers

 

[417welly]

 

[lostinthelight]

A lot depends on what your trying to achieve.It looks like the variable width joints and nutural irregularities have been pointed flush then a regular joint look cut.
It will be time consuming to get back to a stone look with some damage to the stone face but ive found that running a small cutting disc through the joint cement helps removal .If you damage the face, what you could and wanted a half way house then lime bagging could be a useful alternative?
https://cornishlime.co.uk/application-guides/technical-advice-note-for-bag-rub-finish/

 

[417welly]

Thanks lostinthelight. Yes you are absolute right - the variable width joints and natural irregularities have been pointed flush and then a then a 'fake' superficial joints scratched into the cement surface
I guess what i'm ultimately after is avoiding future deterioration of the stone and restoring the the breathability of the walls but at the same time avoiding it looking terrible or actually causing damage in the attempt.
Bagging idea is new to me and looks good to my eye so thanks for that (but not sure if an option due to being in a conservation area where ther are no other existing example of this method)

 

[stuart45]

DSC00030

• stuart45
• 28 Jul 2019

DSC00031

• stuart45
• 1 Aug 2019

I cleaned this one up with a needle gun, but it's Chert which is a really hard stone. It would wreck limestone or sandstone.

 

[417welly]

Stuart45, well that's come up nicely. Like you say probably only going to work on hard stone. Honestly not sure what type of stone I'm dealing with here (North Wales) so guess I need to try and identify it. Im thinking / hoping that it's pretty tough based on the fact that existing pointing does'nt seem to have damaged it too much so far

 

[stuart45]

Took me all day to do it. The lady had an estimate of £800 to get all the paint off by sandblasting, but couldn't be sure of getting the sand/cement parging in the corner off.

 

[lostinthelight]

How far away are these , they may know what stone it is?
https://thenaturalbuildingcentre.co.uk/about-us

 

[Feck]

Shotblast to remove everything from the surface and then rake out and repoint in traditional manner.

 

[lostinthelight]

Shot blasting in unskilled hands can have a detrimental on stone work, Ive seen it done where the softer areas have been blasted away leaving ridges of harder stone which looks like erosion thats taken place over centuries .

 

[417welly]

Stuart45, can i just check what type of needle gun you used on that job? i see you can get versions with flat ended needles or pointed needles

 

[stuart45]

TE 104/106/300 Needle scaler adapter - Accessories for Demolition Hammers and Breakers - Hilti United Kingdom
Hired it with the gun from Bradfords.
Flat ended.