Folks,
Had a builder doing some work next door and he mentioned that he was doing the pointing on the shared chimney...While he was up there I thought we could get him to do our side and the other chimney that needs doing that is ours alone.
The chimney stacks are about three feet(ish) high and have two pots on them. Nothing special, just a standard terraced house. Pointing probably needs done only on top half.
What sort of price should I be looking at here? He has said about £150
Thanks!
I would have thouht £150 quite reasonable. By the time he gets access etc he would want a days money
Ask your Neighbour how much is He charging them. and work it out from there.
As he's already up there doing your neighbours with all the tackle offer him £100 cash.
Depends on what sort of pointing is done. I've just got quoted £1500 for full weather proof pointing (think that's what it's called) or half that for non-weather proof. It's all to do with the shape of the joints I believe and weather proof joints take longer.
Rick
Rickard Dwiggery wrote
Sounds like you're in danger of being conned here Rick. They are probably talking about "weathered and struck" pointing, where the mortar is built out proud of the surface of the brickwork and the bottom edge is struck off with a tool called a "Frenchman" along a straight edge board. The term "weathered" refers to the sloping face, but in fact it's no more weather-proof than any other style of pointing (except the dreaded recessed joint) - and in some cases it can actually cause even more damage, as it sheds water onto the bricks instead of allowing it to soak in and dry out again. Often it looks a mess, especially when it covers the top edge of the brick below and the joints end up about 1" wide. And it doesn't take twice as long to do, so there is no justification for charging twice as much.
The best advice is to stick with the original pointing style - it's most probably ordinary flush pointing, which is perfectly good enough.
Peter
Hmmmm thanks for the info Peter. The £1500 I should have made clear was for the whole front of my house, not the chimney. When I heard the quote I did think this was steep and was going to go somewhere else. Then the bloke phoned me today and explained exactly what he would need to do...including using some coloured dye to make some of the old bricks look tidyer.
He did say to just 'fill in the gaps' would be half the price but it wouldn't be done right that way.
Is £1500 still expensive for that?
Regards
Rick
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