Repointing a house - cost?

sportY_3 · 1 July 2005 at 6:15PM

We need to repoint our house - an end of terrace in Coventry. How much do you think we would expect to pay? We've thought of doing it ourselves but by the time we've hired one of those scaffolding towers I think it may be more cost effective to get a pro in.....and of course we don't know what we're doing...

Tom_Jones · 1 July 2005 at 6:22PM

A pro would probably have to hire a scaffolding as well though, it's not a difficult job for the DIY er but a pro would be quicker, thus reducing the hire of the scaffolding costs.

Tom_Jones · 1 July 2005 at 6:29PM

Some tips

http://www.stastier.co.uk/index.htm?nhl/guides/ptgnhl.htm~rbottom

Toon · 1 July 2005 at 8:02PM

Where do you want to point it to?

sportY_3 · 1 July 2005 at 8:28PM

The whole house needs repointing up to the roof line! The house was at one point pebbledashed which was removed by previous owners...so the pointing has got damaged.

vansboy · 1 July 2005 at 10:45PM

Think this IS a job for someone who is more skilled/experienced.

We had an 'odd job man' do ours after we'd had the walls sandblasted.

Messed it up so badly, we had to get the sandblasting repeated!!

VB

IM · 4 July 2005 at 9:38AM

vansboy wrote:

We had an 'odd job man' do ours after we'd had the walls sandblasted.VB

How much did this cost, and where did you find someone to do it?

I've been looking for a while, but all the places I've found in the Yellow Pages/on t'internet seem to only be interested in doing churches or warehouses (ahead of conversion to flats), rather than just a single house.

We live in a traditional Manchester red-brick semi, and not only do we need the whole house re-pointed, but at some point in the past someone painted the bottom section of the brickwork in red brick paint. This may have looked OK for 10 minutes after it was done, but now is in a very sorry state.

I've tried taking a drill with a wire brush attachment to it, and whilst this works, it would take months (not to mention a pallet-load of wire brushes...)

What I'd like to do is get the whole of the outside stripped, cleaned and re-pointed.

Is this a job that any general builder would be able to do, or do I need a specialist?

soulstar · 6 July 2005 at 5:27PM

I've recently had the front of my house done. (a victorian terraced cottage). My mate's a brickie, so he could do the actual pointing. However, he said the old mortar (bit between the bricks) had to be raked out first to a depth of about 6mm. He didn't want to do this bit and he insists that most brickies won't - i presume it's a labourer's job.
Anyway, I borrowed a tower from a friend, and got to work with a club (big) hammer and a chisel (get a "plugging chisel" if poss). This was fairly slow work - about a day and a half to get three quarters done. the brickie then turned up and got the rest out using an angle grinder with one disc on top of another (DON'T try this at home!)

Upshot: he said he would normally charge about £100 a day for the pointing alone (should take about 2 days dependent on weather).
So, you're maybe looking at:
£200 for the pointing.
£ up to £100 for tower hire (although brickie / builder may have own)
£approx 200 to rake out the mortar.
Although, you could do this yourself, you just need: a head for heights, about 2 days, access to a tower ( a ladder won't do), a club hammer / lump hammer, a masonry bolster or plugging chisel.
Really Important :
Wear Goggles. Try not to chip edges / face of bricks.

ATR · 6 July 2005 at 9:05PM

Not a job for any builder but any bricklayer should be able to do re-pointing.
I run a building company (Southampton area - rates will vary round the country) and when subcontracting this work I would expect to pay around £20/m2 for raking out and re-pointing plus tower hire.
That's what you could expect to pay a bricklayer direct or up to twice that to a building company (with offices, secretary, etc.)
General tradesman rates per day at the moment are:
Bricklayer, carpenter, roofer £120 - 150
Painter £100-135
Good multi-skilled £135-200
Plumber, Electrician £150
Corgi registered plumber £200-250

Some local authorities (Hampshire and Surrey, for sure) have a Buy With Confidence scheme listing reputable tradesmen on their website - look for the Trading Standards part of the site of your local authority.

Hope that helps.

bikertim · 7 July 2005 at 9:46PM

Hi,I am a bricklayer and I charge £17 a metre for pointing.It is a job that has to be done off a scaffold,dont trust any body who says they will point a whole house off a ladder!You will also find that not all bricklayers will take a pointing job(it can be mind numbingly boring apart from anything else)If you can rake the joints out yourself you may get it cheaper.If you cannot get any one local,or just want more advice, feel free to contact me I'm not that far away from Cov(Coleshill)Good luck.

neilhew · 7 July 2005 at 10:28PM

Earlier comment on a brickie raking out to a depth of 6mm. This is insufficient, and will eventually fall out.
12mm is recommended, but brickies hate this work, and you will rarely see this done properly. Ask around, you may need someone who really does take pride in their work. Also check on the actual shape of the pointing, especially if you have older bricks.

Repointing a house - cost?

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