Repointing one section vs. whole front of house

maurice28

We need a section of brickwork above our front door repointed, as you can see where the mortar has started to disintegrate. It's probably about 2-3 sq. m. worth or so.

We had a builder round to take a look who said we could certainly just repoint that section. He did suggest thinking about having the whole of the front of the house done at the same time, so that it all matches. He did say the rest of the front actually looks in decent condition, bar the odd spot here and there, so the main reason for doing the whole front would be mainly for aesthetic reasons.

The cost for doing the whole lot is more than we'd ideally like to spend, so we are inclined to just have the area that really needs it doing. But does that go against best practice?

Just looking for some general thoughts/opinions really! 

maurice28

Just to add, cost for the section that needs doing would be £300 - the whole front of the house would be £1,600.

Ozzig

Personally, I take the approach that you spend a lot more time inside the house than outside looking at it. Unless you need the kerb appeal I'd go with just the bit(s) that need fixing.

stuart45

Do you know if it's lime or cement mortar?

maurice28

Ozzig said:

Personally, I take the approach that you spend a lot more time inside the house than outside looking at it. Unless you need the kerb appeal I'd go with just the bit(s) that need fixing.

Thanks, that's my instinct too! 

stuart45 said:

Do you know if it's lime or cement mortar?

As far as I know it is cement. 

Ectophile

How fussy are you about the appearance?

You can buy pointing tools from a DIY store or builder's merchant.  And also bags of ready mix sand and cement.

I've done some bits of repointing on the front of my house where it gets hot by the storms.  My first attempt was pretty poor, but I soon leaned to do it better.  It would have been nice if the ready mix sand and cement had matched the existing mortar better.  But at least it filled the gaps.

stuart45

You might be able to get the new mortar to be a reasonable match to the old.
Hacking out cement mortar in good condition often causes a bit of damage to the bricks.