How do I know if my gable brick wall needs re-pointing?

[jgkgolf]

We live in a semi-detached Edwardian(1901) house in London which is made from old yellow stock bricks. The pointing at the front and back appear fine but the pinting in the alleyway is not so good in parts, ie if I scrape at it with a screwdriver it is soft and brittle and falls out. It's not one particular patch that's bad it's quite random. I'm only checking the bottom 10 feet. The alleyway is about 2.5 feet wide and is quite sheltered so this wall doesn't get a lot of rain.

How does one decide if it needs doing? If I get a brickie around to have a look the chances are he will claim it needs doing immediately. As we may move in the next few years I'd rather not do it immediately. Any suggestions appreciated.

[Stuart Noble]

Unless the wall's damp on the inside, I'd leave well alone.

[jgkgolf]

Would it not be too late at that stage, ie would I end up having to do work on the inside as well or would it be a matter of just letting it dry out?

[Martin Bonner]

Well, if you let it get sufficiently damp that there is interior damage, then you'd need to make good the interior damage - but otherwise you just let it dry out.

Also note that your mortar is almost certainly lime mortar - which is soft and can be scraped out with a screwdriver even when in the best of condition.

I would a) leave well alone for the moment; b) make sure your repoint with lime mortar when you need to (it's an easy DIY job - particularly if you can borrow a cement mixer to mix the mortar).

[meow2222]

If pointing has fallen out it needs replacing. Lime mortar is normally quite soft, and not any reason to replace it.

Such walls should be done with lime not cement, and can be done as patchwork rather than wholesale, ie just repair the gone bits.

no

NT