Temporary "pointing"

[chapeau]

We have discovered missing mortar in joints between the bricks on a solid victorian wall where the wind is driving the rain into the cracks and causing significant dampness on the inside wall.

We want to effect a temporary repair until the weather improves and we can get somebody in to do it properly. What's the best way to seal the crack? Can we just squirt some weatherproof silicone in there for now? Will this let the inside wall dry out and stop further water penetration?

Thanks for your help

 

[noseall]

squirting anything in the joint now will only serve to annoy someone later. it will also make a mess.

are there any spalled or perished header bricks visible?

 

[chapeau]

Thanks for your reply noseall.

Went up this morning and took a couple of pictures to illustrate, one brick is marked with an X. There has obviously been some work done on the wall in the past, I think there was a flue there and the plumber bricked it up before putting another flue in higher up the wall.

There are damaged bricks elsewhere on the wall but they aren't letting damp through, as far as I can tell. The wall is probably around 100 years old. The reason I ask what to do temporarily is because I have read here you don't want to be re-pointing when the weather is cold, perhaps that's an incorrect assumption on my part?

Cheers

 

[noseall]

so long as it is 5 degrees and rising then no problem.

get it re-pointed and see what happens.