Advice on cost of re-pointing

Philip624

We have had an offer on a house accepted. The Vendor has only lived there a year but is moving due to a change of job location. They have been very open and have flagged up a couple of things that came out of their survey on buying the place a year ago, jobs that they havent yet got round to doing and are likely to be brought up on our survey on the place.

The bricks to the front elevation need re-pointing. The house is a 30s brick built semi. There is a bay window at the front so I am assuming that is what is meant by front elevation.

How much could I expect to pay to get this sorted. Is it a major job? What does it involve?

YBNB

Hi there.

Former surveyor here.

Basically, a builder needs to rake out the old perished pointing, mix some new and fill the gaps!

If you budget for between £5 and £15 per square metre, depending if you get a mate to do it and buy the materials yourself, or leave the whole shebang to a builder, you shouldn't be too far wide of the mark.

Good luck.

weekendwarrior

Hi,
to have it done properly involves removing some of the old mortar, this is often done with an angle grinder. Instructions on how to do it are here- Repointing

As for the cost of getting it done professionally, it would depend on where you live. I have seen figures of between £18-£35 per square meter.


This is a job that must be done from scaffolding as it is not safe to do from a ladder!

YBNB

I probably should have added that there will be significant regional variations. I used to work in the North of England, and if you're in the South-East, you could expect the cost to be up to 50% higher.

mekondelta

I was in exactly the same position a year ago. 2 builders quoted me 850 and 1500. I sent the 1500 quote to the estate agent and he got the sellers to do the work. They !!!!!ed and moaned about it. Turns out that was the least of my problems with the house :rolleyes: but hey, at least I know a lot about DIY and how my house works! We have a 3 bed semi in Surrey.

multii

Repointing, raking out all joints to 15mm, injecting suitable mortar,inclusive of scaffold
£15 per square metre.
Website https://www.pro-pointing.co.uk.
Website also contains information for diy.
Regards.....Mike