New build brickwork query..

Alexg8

Thanks for viewing, any help is appreciated...
My wife and I are In the process of buying a new build from TW. Completion is around aug/sep and everything so far has gone smoothly and TW have been brilliant. We had the first site visit today and the first thing I noticed was the brickwork. I work in IT so I'm a total nube to this so please excuse any ignorance to this post. Straight away I noticed some patches of the brick almost looked like rubble, or that there was a mix of new bricks and old bricks. I'm aware they will more than likely give it a good clean but I just can't see past the patchiness and rubble look in some areas. I've attached a picture and circled where I think it's noticeable /bad. If someone could take a look and let me know if I'm right to be concerned or if I'm talking rubbish and it's totally normal it would help us massively in knowing what to do next. 👍

FreeBear

Looks like bricks used from different batches. Even from the same batch of bricks, you'll get quite a bit of variation.

Section62

Alexg8 said:

[1] Straight away I noticed some patches of the brick almost looked like rubble, or that there was a mix of new bricks and old bricks.

[2] I'm aware they will more than likely give it a good clean but I just can't see past the patchiness and rubble look in some areas.

[1] It looks like they are a 'rustic'-type brick, intended to have a non-uniform appearance rather than looking identical.  They won't use 'old bricks' as they will almost certainly cost more (at the end of the day) than using new ones straight from the manufacturer.

The colour of mortar and type of pointing also has a significant effect on the overall appearance of brickwork. You can see on you house and the one next door that there are clearly identifiable areas with different colour mortars - either representing different day's work, or different batches of mix.  I'd also suspect that at least some of the brickwork was done when there was moderate to heavy rain.

[2] Now the scaffolding is down there may be a limited amount of work they will do externally. You should ask them to do something to improve the appearance - rather than just hoping it is 'more than likely' they will do so.  They will do the minimum they think they can get away with, and the average new home buyer is usually more interested in what the inside looks like than the quality of the brickwork, so that is where most mass builders put any additional effort into.

In time the differences will tone down... but personally I'd not be happy accepting that standard of finish even with assurances it will look less bad in time.

stuart45

It's the mortar colour that's probably the worst thing. This can make identical bricks look a different colour. The central band looks worse to me that the bits you've circled. The NHBC mention excessive banding, and mortar being reasonably uniform. I don't think that meets their standards.