Broken brick on the corner of my house.. should I be worried and how can I tidy it up?

MrCheeseman

I've just noticed that there's a broken brick on the corner of the house I've bought. There's no sign of debris on the floor which suggests it happened a while ago and if I poke it it doesn't crumble or anything. There is some white substance or something across the bottom of the whole row of bricks - not sure that is - as shown in the second pic.

Could anyone tell me ..

1) Should I be worried about this? Is it an indication of a bigger problem or just a broken brick? The house was built in the 1960s.

2) Assuming it's not a bigger problem, how do I fix this? I'd like to get it looking neater though I guess replacing the actual whole brick isn't an option.

EDIT: Also, can anyone recommend a good DIY maintenance manual? Not just "here are three thousand DIY jobs you can do" but a checklist of the kind of things you should be doing to maintain a house - eg, how and when to check if your bricks need pointing, etc

Paula_Smith

Get some external filler or cement and cover it up - should last for years.
You don't really need a manual these days just look for you tube videos on pretty well all diy topics.

Paula_Smith

Wire brush to get rid of white stuff.

Homer_home

White stuff is effersonce salts (how ever its spelt) good brushing with a stiff brush gets rid of it

As its low down I wouldnt worry too much about it,  i personally look to repoint that area as it needs doing otherwise you could remove the brick and turn it around however that would mean removing the fence and post

You can still buy maintenance books 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Complete-Manual-Albert-Jackson/dp/0007425953/ref=asc_df_0007425953/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310940869184&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12322116419265383406&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9041125&hvtargid=pla-456696218328&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

MrCheeseman

Homer_home said:

White stuff is effersonce salts (how ever its spelt) good brushing with a stiff brush gets rid of it

As its low down I wouldnt worry too much about it,  i personally look to repoint that area as it needs doing otherwise you could remove the brick and turn it around however that would mean removing the fence and post

Thanks - how do I know which areas need repointing? I've heard that if you can scrape the mortar out with a sharp knife it does, but that seems pretty destructive.

FreeBear

MrCheeseman said: Thanks - how do I know which areas need repointing? I've heard that if you can scrape the mortar out with a sharp knife it does, but that seems pretty destructive.

Pointing will most likely look like one of these common types -

If you can rake out the old mortar with nothing more than a knife or old screwdriver, you probably have lime mortar (or real poor quality cement). The age of the property will give you another indication of the type of mortar used.

Ideally, you want to use the same type of mortar that was originally used when the house was constructed.

Homer_home

The condition of the mortar and gaps in the mortar is your clue 

MrCheeseman

Homer_home said:

The condition of the mortar and gaps in the mortar is your clue 

Cool. I had a good look today - on the ground floor, at least. There was a little hole next to the broken brick, but that was it. The !!!!!! is I'll have to find a brick that matches a 1960s brick, but I'll get it sorted somehow.