Why are the ground floor bricks like this? (Repointed?)

bbbuyer

Is it repointing?

why are they white?

Is it something to be wary off (from buyer perspective)

bobster2

Ask owner?

It looks like it's been repointed all the way up - not just the ground floor. Which is generally a good thing.

As for the painting - it could have been previously painted (over the old pointing) - after which you have to keep painting or it looks awful.

What I'd be more interested in would be the window replacements. I can see a new concrete lintel on the left hand window - but it's an untidy job.

TheJP

What a mess, i woundn't call that repointing. Looks like the owner may have done it themselves by the looks of it. Also looks if they gave up painting the rest of the house.

Bookworm105

TheJP said:

What a mess, i woundn't call that repointing. Looks like the owner may have done it themselves by the looks of it. Also looks if they gave up painting the rest of the house.

are you a brickie?
that form of pointing is entirely correct for the period of that property. It is called "weather struck" finish and takes a lot more work to achieve - and therefore of course costs a lot more money to pay a brickie to do it (second only to "tuck pointing")
Repointing London | Brick Pointing | Repointing Brickwork

as for the white paint it is unsurprising to see someone attempt to brighten up what is otherwise a dark corner / bit of yard. Hence the garden wall also being white. I'd suggest it is actually fairly common in houses close together to each other.

teaselMay

It looks like many many houses around here, a less well lit corner of a yard painted white to brighten in, probably years ago and then more recently repointed. A couple of coats of white paint and it'll look fine.

bobster2

Also need to bear in mind - with old weathered bricks like those - the edges/corners are going to be uneven and rounded in places. Consequently pointing is never going to look very neat.

It's quite common for brickwork in side-return areas to be painted white.

subjecttocontract

That brick pattern suggests solid walls to me. Might not be very good for insulation, I'd check what the EPC shows.

bbbuyer

Yep definitely solid walls but won’t find that many cavity wall in this part of town.

lincroft1710

subjecttocontract said:

That brick pattern suggests solid walls to me. Might not be very good for insulation, I'd check what the EPC shows.

Virtually every pre 1920 house and quite a few  up to the 1940s will have solid brick walls

subjecttocontract

lincroft1710 said:

subjecttocontract said:

That brick pattern suggests solid walls to me. Might not be very good for insulation, I'd check what the EPC shows.

Virtually every pre 1920 house and quite a few  up to the 1940s will have solid brick walls

Doesn't that mean that they won't have a very good EPC rating without considerable additional interior work to add insulation to the walls. It sounds like extra energy costs to heat that kind of property. Are they cheaper as a result ?

BikingBud

That left window looks like it might be larger than original, hint being the limited span of the solider course.

Suggest kitchen window increased to let more light in perhaps? Supported by black drain pipe emerging from behind the wooden crate.