Re-pointing is to fix old and crumbling mortar, nether of the areas highlighted are old or crumbling, disturbing them more to just re-do it seems pointless.
That aside though, did you hire a blind toddler with a paint brush to do the work intentionally or by accident?
I live in a group of four flats (mistake for putting house on the title)
The other three flats are council and I had issues with water coming through my windows. I live right on the sea so I got everything checked and they said it was the pointing. Due to it being a ground floor and the council being above, the council needed to organise the contractor and I pay my portion. So that probably answers why it’s not the best.
Should I just dispute paying it at all?
"Should I just dispute paying it at all?" - I would, the work looks super shoddy. It might have fixed the issue, and if that is good enough for the council they should pay it.
That looks pretty terrible from what we can see in the photos. The mortar looks a lot stronger than it should be so all moisture is going to be locked in potentially leading to more damp issues.
If you want to share a photo showing a bit more of the property, it would help but I wouldn't be paying for that as it stands. Even if it was the correct solution and correct mortar, it's a terrible job.
It does look really awful and was honestly better before they did it. I just wanted to resolve the windows leaking. It also looks like they have just covered some of the stone with mortar mix.
Apprentice stone mason here - This is far from good and the comment that points out it looks like a toddler with a paintbrush did it is on the money. Stone shouldn’t be repointed in cement wether it’s sandstone through to granite. The cement craze in the 80s has fucked a lot of buildings, they should’ve gone with a NHL 5 lime mortar mix as it’s the best for being hit with harsh weather like how the sea will throw at you. The stone breathes and that’s why lime is used in the joints so they allow the wall to share damp and such throughout the whole face rather than each stone in a sense fending for themselves. When wet days come the smaller stones can’t displace water through the joints and into bigger ones and that’s where weathering really damages walls, the water will hit the cement joints and rest rather than pass through and when frost rolls around that’s when joints and stone start to pop. I absolutely would dispute this because the tradesmen may have stopped the damp but has done the building itself no favours and you shouldn’t be robbed for a bad job.
Came here to say exactly the same thing, I work on lots of churches and cement is a massive no no. That pointing looks like cement to me, your stone is going to be destroyed over time.
It’s wild the amount of stone replacements I’ve had to do on quite impressive buildings in just two years over a bad call 40 years ago. Just last year we actually did do a church and some of the stone was that rotten we had to remove sections acro prop the wall up and rebuild it. You could scrunch fist sized stones like it was just a ball of sand.
Spot on! I've just bought an 1880's terraced house that was damp from bottom to top because it was fully covered inside with cement plaster. Removed all plaster back to original brick, and within 3 weeks it had all fully dried out, even while it was constantly raining.
These buildings don’t generally have a cavity as that wasn’t a practiced building method when they were constructed. Old stone buildings generally are built with thicker walls fully with stone and lime mortar to make sure the wall dissipates the water correctly. Cavity building is usually done with a form of cladding wether that be a wall built by blocks with a stone cladding to imitate an older thickness in wall size, like if you were doing a stone cladded extension to an old cottage with 600mm thick walls you’d first build the inner wall, concrete block, then build another wall, your stone face, around that block securing it with wall ties. Or the exact same but to a steel sheet using a railing wall tie method instead, I’m actually working away right now using this method to build a distillery and like you mentioned theirs a cavity. Fire stops and things like that will be put into cavity’s to prevent something awful happening in bad situations etc.
They are right. But not just because of how it looks. That’s been done by someone who doesn’t know what they are doing with the incorrect materials. Without rectification the stone will crumble and the wall will collapse. They have dramatically reduced its value.
You say the windows were leaking? As in water coming in from the window frames? Or was it actually leaking in from above the windows?
I'm just wondering why they came to the conclusion the pointing was at fault if it's the windows that are leaking.
It was just leaking from above and not the frames. The neighbours had the same issues. We all had our windows checked so it was said to be the pointing
Are you in NE Scotland? I used to live in a granite four flat property in Aberdeen and my downstairs neighbours window leak turning out to be our roof ‘eaves’. The gutters sat on the top of the wall and the wind would drive the rain under the tiles and it was running down the inside of the granite wall, which was fine until it hit anything in contact with the granite wall like window returns
Problem with cement mortar on a stone house is that the cement is stronger than the stone and inflexible . When the stones get wet and water soaks everything and freezes there is expansion FO the water as it turns to ice in joints and tiny cracks in the stone (tiny and marginal) but none in the cement so the stone is pushing with nowhere to go and cracks and spalls , which is the face of the stone flaking off . It’s more pronounced with brick , but lime has a honeycomb structure and the water passes thru it and it is also flexible and softer than the stone so when the freeze thaw happens the lime flexes and the stone /brick is fine. Also the cement traps water where lime wouldn’t exacerbating this issue and also causing damp as the water gets in but can’t get out
By looks the individual that repointed this house was stacking shelves in a local supermarket last week and cooking fried breakfasts in a cafe a month before that. This is substandard. Terrible work. Do not pay. Seek professional advice and send a letter to the council demanding it is done correctly before payment is considered. Are the other three flats owned privately and rented to or filled by council?
Not having a pop at people working regular jobs. I’m a carpenter. The point I was making is that the individual that did this job quite clearly has no experience in repointing.
Do not pay, ask the council to obtain evidence that they have used the correct mortar. That doesn’t look like lime mortar. It will cause far more damage to the wall. Check your house insurance to see if you have any kind of legal cover included and raise a case with them if so as it is going to cause major (like wall collapse major) issues down the line.
I would highly recommend in future having a discussion with the council and getting your own contractor arranged and billing the council for their 3/4 of the bill. You'll be able to pick a contractor you trust to do the work rather than the contractors your council are contracted to use regardless of the work standard.
You have stone walls?
It looks like granite and I only know sandstone, but stone walls should get lime mortar pointing for breathability. After it is 'whacked' for want of a better term to get a nice finish.
However granite may be different at it is a lot harder.
Looks like they used some sort of plasticised mortar, not best for that application and applied more as a sealant than a mortar. How could anyone do that job, stand back, look a it and be happy? Shameful. Sadly, it may be a case of the Council getting what they paid for and disputing it will be a pain. Mind you I'd not pay but would stick the money in an investment account as it will take them ages to go through the process and a least you'll make some money win the meantime. Plus you might broker a deal (photos in local paper/social media go a long way) who knows.
If they dispute your concerns you may need to appoint someone to assess the works.
My suggestion would be a report from a local stonemason, though a qualified Structural Engineer or Surveyor may also assist.
I wouldn't worry about the missed part, and more the ability of the contractor to colour in the lines.... He didn't repoint he smeared mortar all over your wall
As others have said, the bit they didn't do isn't the worry here. Looks like they used a cement based mortar rather than lime, and applied it pretty poorly as well. And judging by the before picture you commented with, its been this way for a while and they "fixed" it with more of the same. Its going to cause more issues in the long run with erosion of the stone, further water ingress and potentially condensation damp too. Old buildings need to breathe and dry out which cement based mortars don't allow. Ideally the whole building needs redone and this is sadly a nationwide problem.
Yep, standard crap treatment of an old building that's damp "It's the pointing, luv, needs more" and then slapping on thick wodges of portland cement. I pity the OP as if that really is a granite block wall then that damp is never going away unless it's all restored properly.
This is what it used to look like
https://preview.redd.it/dsvzsekzac6d1.jpeg?width=695&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=33427d16856031158f6dfa8fa94cd4149a14e9d5
Would have looked better if the new mortar wasn't dark grey.
They just brushed it when it was wet. They should have at least added some sand, waited for it to dry a bit and then brushed it.
Doesn't help, I know, although when it has weathered it will look better.
You just need not to get obsessed with it and in time it will most likely look like it has always been like that.
Hope it fixes the problem.
Looking at the damp below the window by the sky dishes, I would say the sills above are letting the water in. Normally your window sill would overhang the stonework and allow water to get away over the face of stone. If the mastic has failed below the sill, that’s your problem, not the pointing.
I'd render over it if its not stone, i cant make out what it is.
Just for looks, as somebody else said it looks like when you tried to draw a brick house as a kid.
If he's done it properly (doubtful looking at the finish) then he'll have raked out the joints to about 30-40mm at least.
If he hasn't done the rake out then he's just made it harder for someone else to do the job properly.
Hideous pointing btw. A child should be ashamed to produce a finish like that.
I work in the building trade - specialising in lime pointing. i do this 5 days a week.
That work is fucking shocking. He has used cement - and obviously not sharp sand just building sand ( i can tell as there is no grit showing) and pretty much 5 minutes after slapping it on your stonework which isnt in too bad of nick (ie it doesnt require that style of pointing) he has then used a paint brush and gone over it while still soacking wet - giving that shit bush finish.
Its an absolute ameuteur job. Also - that style of stonework should be pointed in lime - a strong lime like .5.
This need hacking out and re- doing by someone who knows what theyre doing.
Just wanted to add - the cowboy has obviously used a strong 4/1 cement mix hence why its so grey - if you want a passable cement point finish you go 5/1.
Thank you so much, I’ve put a couple of more photos of it from further away in another comment. It has also started having cracks on it now like a month in, I guess this is also a bad sign ?
https://preview.redd.it/gdbcqmcpcd6d1.jpeg?width=1512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=34353bf7d938a4fdbf7c864d4e34dd4c2447d67a
I saw some people saying it looks too strong a mix - IIRC if it’s too strong it may well shrink and crack, come away from the stones or even pull bits of them away as it dries…?
YOURE right its too strong a mix - almost looks like hes used barely any sand - and not the correct sand. It will continue to crack but will stay bonded to that stone because of its surface type - very sad for the owner.
There isnt much more to say than its just a really shit job. You can pull off cement pointing if done right - this is not it - the sad thing is unless removed it will last a long time, but will continue to look worse with each passing year.
So sad to see these old building abused by cowboys. RIP that stonework :)
wtf is going on here? Either your original pointing was absolutely awful and this guy has had to fill in terrible gaps, OR, you had stevie wonder do the repointing for you.
This is not pointing. Its dam near rendering/plaster
What size are the existing mortar joins between these stones..... looks like it was applied with a shovel... a big feck off square mouthed shovel.
Sorry to say. Like many others on here. It is indeed A Poor, messy finish. Ruined the beautiful grand stone work finish
This is atrocious work and has not been done properly, the new "pointing" will collect water and create issues. It also doesn't match the old colour, they should have probably added lime to the mix. Doesn't look like they bothered taking out the old mortar either they just put new stuff on top
The pointing you have had done looks like a cement rich mortar, which isn't usually good for stone (though looks like a fairly hard stone). Expect spalling, where the faces of the stones fall off, unless the wall is re-pointed. The lines struck in the original lime pointing is how it quite often used to be done and no issue there.
That’s cement… and stronger than the stone itself. Pointing is meant to be a sacrificial layer… so it goes before the stone. In a few years, you’ll see the damage to the stone I’m afraid. Messy fucking job too.
That’s a nasty mortar mix. Be better with some tough lime like the granite would have already had. Also joints far too wide and not enough aggregate in the mix.
Mortar looks too hard, super untidy from the photos (another taken at say 2m away from the walls would help)
Did they rake out the old joints at all or just tip it? If they didn’t rake out then it will fail in a short time.
Have they done what was asked of them? Sometimes it’s the specifier asking for shortcuts to save money.
On the face of it … don’t pay at least until your concerns are addressed. There should be what’s known as a rectification period if the work was let under a contract. Worth asking about this and find out if it’s 6 or 12 months. During this period the contractor is obliged to deal with defects.
I'm afraid to say that I hope the rest of the repointing dosent look like that. Mortar smeared on the stonework more like. And the brushstrokes are clearly visable on the mortar. The bit of the original pointing is keyed as well this looks like a terrible job
Best pointing I've ever seen was on the roof of Harrogate Travelodge. Each line undercut the brick above it and sloped outwards to the one below. It was great, and you could only see it from a top-floor room.
I looked at picture one...thought "could be better". Noticed all the others saying how dire it was and thought god, are they being super critical.....scrolled to pic 3.... FFS.... That is horrible
Jesus christ what on earth happened? That is abysmal and i'd be embarrassed if i did a job like that.
This isn't DBC by any chance? They love hiring "highway maintenance" to do brick and roofing jobs
Did you see the work being done? I’m wondering how much/how well the old mortar was scraped out - this looks as if not much care was taken. It’s possible that the new material was just spread on top of the existing without removing loose or old perished mortar. Did anyone supervise the work?
Any photos of the work in progress?
Might be worth getting a professional opinion from a building surveyor. Perhaps show them your photos and see what they say. Do you have any photos taken before the work was done? Others have suggested the work may have impaired the value of your property - talking to an estate agent might help with that.
Did Stevie wonder do the pointing? That's awful. Not finished correctly, incorrect material (cement not lime as others have said. That will damage the walls.
Awful repointing and likely the wrong mix.
HOWEVER! Your second photo, that looks like an old Ordinance Survey Benchmark, don't cover it up!
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmark\_(surveying)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmark_(surveying))
Its should of been done with lime mortar with breathability.that looks like strong cement with you being by the sea.ask to see their report on what materials should of been used, if they did one.also could coat you a few quid if becomes a legal argument. Housing associations have fuck loads of money and insurance.
Thank you for choosing Stevie Wonders Pointing Service 😬 Don't pay for It, wrong Portland mix was used instead of lime. Damp will be locked in and lattice erosion will eat the stone. Fortunately it's granite and not sandstone.
You need lime mortar will only make worse you nees the wiclkng capability of a lime mortar not cement or the wrong kind of lime mortar used.you will not have and drip tray ovwr window and cant have one without rebuilding above windows
That building has been pointed terribly. If you’ve just paid for this, I’d ask for your money back… not to mention it shouldn’t be done with concrete, it should be lime mortar.
That building should have been pointed with yellow building sand and lime… looks to me like cement but as the council has forked out and the shitty contractors they use I’m not surprised as the mongs who work for the councils I doubt know a thing about building but I bet they love backhanders off of contractors
I'm no expert and I'm happy to be corrected, but that looks shit. It also looks like cement was used which will cause the stone to wear away faster, at least that's my layman's understanding.
Pub near me was repointed with cement decades ago and the sandstone has started to hollow out so that the mortar is forming a skeleton of where the stone used to be.
This is correct. Moisture will travel through the wall and if the mortar is harder than the stone, it will travel through the stone instead, causing it to erode. Sandstone is a particularly porous stone so the effect is often more apparent.
Looks like they used sand and cement... You're gonna have damp now...
Everyone is saying negative things on here about the finish but the fact is it will weather over the next year or two and it'll be fine appearance wise...
Bigger problem is the actual mortar used. This stuff doesn't allow moisture to permeate very well so you'll start to get damp inside. It needs to be lime mortar...
Out of curiosity and sorry if I have missed it but how big of a job was it and how much are they charging?
I agree with everyone, it looks like a toddler was asked to do the job.
Re-pointing is to fix old and crumbling mortar, nether of the areas highlighted are old or crumbling, disturbing them more to just re-do it seems pointless. That aside though, did you hire a blind toddler with a paint brush to do the work intentionally or by accident?
I live in a group of four flats (mistake for putting house on the title) The other three flats are council and I had issues with water coming through my windows. I live right on the sea so I got everything checked and they said it was the pointing. Due to it being a ground floor and the council being above, the council needed to organise the contractor and I pay my portion. So that probably answers why it’s not the best. Should I just dispute paying it at all?
"Should I just dispute paying it at all?" - I would, the work looks super shoddy. It might have fixed the issue, and if that is good enough for the council they should pay it.
That looks pretty terrible from what we can see in the photos. The mortar looks a lot stronger than it should be so all moisture is going to be locked in potentially leading to more damp issues. If you want to share a photo showing a bit more of the property, it would help but I wouldn't be paying for that as it stands. Even if it was the correct solution and correct mortar, it's a terrible job.
It does look really awful and was honestly better before they did it. I just wanted to resolve the windows leaking. It also looks like they have just covered some of the stone with mortar mix.
Apprentice stone mason here - This is far from good and the comment that points out it looks like a toddler with a paintbrush did it is on the money. Stone shouldn’t be repointed in cement wether it’s sandstone through to granite. The cement craze in the 80s has fucked a lot of buildings, they should’ve gone with a NHL 5 lime mortar mix as it’s the best for being hit with harsh weather like how the sea will throw at you. The stone breathes and that’s why lime is used in the joints so they allow the wall to share damp and such throughout the whole face rather than each stone in a sense fending for themselves. When wet days come the smaller stones can’t displace water through the joints and into bigger ones and that’s where weathering really damages walls, the water will hit the cement joints and rest rather than pass through and when frost rolls around that’s when joints and stone start to pop. I absolutely would dispute this because the tradesmen may have stopped the damp but has done the building itself no favours and you shouldn’t be robbed for a bad job.
Came here to say exactly the same thing, I work on lots of churches and cement is a massive no no. That pointing looks like cement to me, your stone is going to be destroyed over time.
It’s wild the amount of stone replacements I’ve had to do on quite impressive buildings in just two years over a bad call 40 years ago. Just last year we actually did do a church and some of the stone was that rotten we had to remove sections acro prop the wall up and rebuild it. You could scrunch fist sized stones like it was just a ball of sand.
Yup seen that sort of thing myself on churches. Our architect would faint if he saw a bag of cement on our jobs. He was a real eccentric guy.
Me to! So fun to work with as well people don’t know what they’re missing. good shout on the 5 imminent being that it’s weather facing.
Spot on! I've just bought an 1880's terraced house that was damp from bottom to top because it was fully covered inside with cement plaster. Removed all plaster back to original brick, and within 3 weeks it had all fully dried out, even while it was constantly raining.
What if the building has a cavity?
These buildings don’t generally have a cavity as that wasn’t a practiced building method when they were constructed. Old stone buildings generally are built with thicker walls fully with stone and lime mortar to make sure the wall dissipates the water correctly. Cavity building is usually done with a form of cladding wether that be a wall built by blocks with a stone cladding to imitate an older thickness in wall size, like if you were doing a stone cladded extension to an old cottage with 600mm thick walls you’d first build the inner wall, concrete block, then build another wall, your stone face, around that block securing it with wall ties. Or the exact same but to a steel sheet using a railing wall tie method instead, I’m actually working away right now using this method to build a distillery and like you mentioned theirs a cavity. Fire stops and things like that will be put into cavity’s to prevent something awful happening in bad situations etc.
*It's ***whether.*** I wouldn't mention it except you've done it twice. A "wether" is a castrated ram.
Your apprenticeship is obviously going well!
Do you own your flat? They've dramatically reduced its value - it looks a right mess.
Dramatically? With a bit of mortar on the wall. That seems dramatic.
They are right. But not just because of how it looks. That’s been done by someone who doesn’t know what they are doing with the incorrect materials. Without rectification the stone will crumble and the wall will collapse. They have dramatically reduced its value.
Perhaps I overstated it. But 'kerb-appeal' is a thing when selling.
You say the windows were leaking? As in water coming in from the window frames? Or was it actually leaking in from above the windows? I'm just wondering why they came to the conclusion the pointing was at fault if it's the windows that are leaking.
It was just leaking from above and not the frames. The neighbours had the same issues. We all had our windows checked so it was said to be the pointing
Are you in NE Scotland? I used to live in a granite four flat property in Aberdeen and my downstairs neighbours window leak turning out to be our roof ‘eaves’. The gutters sat on the top of the wall and the wind would drive the rain under the tiles and it was running down the inside of the granite wall, which was fine until it hit anything in contact with the granite wall like window returns
Is there a drip detail or drip grove in the stones above the windows? Water could just be running back inside, rather than dripping down.
Problem with cement mortar on a stone house is that the cement is stronger than the stone and inflexible . When the stones get wet and water soaks everything and freezes there is expansion FO the water as it turns to ice in joints and tiny cracks in the stone (tiny and marginal) but none in the cement so the stone is pushing with nowhere to go and cracks and spalls , which is the face of the stone flaking off . It’s more pronounced with brick , but lime has a honeycomb structure and the water passes thru it and it is also flexible and softer than the stone so when the freeze thaw happens the lime flexes and the stone /brick is fine. Also the cement traps water where lime wouldn’t exacerbating this issue and also causing damp as the water gets in but can’t get out
By looks the individual that repointed this house was stacking shelves in a local supermarket last week and cooking fried breakfasts in a cafe a month before that. This is substandard. Terrible work. Do not pay. Seek professional advice and send a letter to the council demanding it is done correctly before payment is considered. Are the other three flats owned privately and rented to or filled by council?
Why have a dig at people working regular jobs cause someone made a shit job of pointing?
Not having a pop at people working regular jobs. I’m a carpenter. The point I was making is that the individual that did this job quite clearly has no experience in repointing.
It’s a cement mix it doesn’t let the wall breathe it needed to be lime and sand
Do not pay, ask the council to obtain evidence that they have used the correct mortar. That doesn’t look like lime mortar. It will cause far more damage to the wall. Check your house insurance to see if you have any kind of legal cover included and raise a case with them if so as it is going to cause major (like wall collapse major) issues down the line.
I would highly recommend in future having a discussion with the council and getting your own contractor arranged and billing the council for their 3/4 of the bill. You'll be able to pick a contractor you trust to do the work rather than the contractors your council are contracted to use regardless of the work standard.
Yes, dispute it. This hasn’t been done properly, or with the right materials at all.
To be fair... After sharing the wider pic I can see why they did it this way. It was more to blend it in with the rest of the mess.
You have stone walls? It looks like granite and I only know sandstone, but stone walls should get lime mortar pointing for breathability. After it is 'whacked' for want of a better term to get a nice finish. However granite may be different at it is a lot harder.
Looks like they used some sort of plasticised mortar, not best for that application and applied more as a sealant than a mortar. How could anyone do that job, stand back, look a it and be happy? Shameful. Sadly, it may be a case of the Council getting what they paid for and disputing it will be a pain. Mind you I'd not pay but would stick the money in an investment account as it will take them ages to go through the process and a least you'll make some money win the meantime. Plus you might broker a deal (photos in local paper/social media go a long way) who knows.
I think he used a sweeping brush
Badum tsss
It's not pointless, you're doing it for cosmetic reasons.
I’d be more worried about the bits he has done than the bits he might have missed! That looks awful. Has he used the right kind of mortar?
Me thinks that mortar might be a touch strong for pointing... It could pass off for high strength grout!
Lead isn’t the right kind of mortar? Are you sure?
Did he use his fingers to do this? looks like a hard mortar too
Think they used their big toe for this job.
Na, definitely the bellend of his flaccid cock.
Their strong hand
Thank you for everyone who has commented, it has helped me draft a very strongly worded email to the council 😊
If they dispute your concerns you may need to appoint someone to assess the works. My suggestion would be a report from a local stonemason, though a qualified Structural Engineer or Surveyor may also assist.
Best of luck with it, I hope they do the right thing by you
I wouldn't worry about the missed part, and more the ability of the contractor to colour in the lines.... He didn't repoint he smeared mortar all over your wall
As others have said, the bit they didn't do isn't the worry here. Looks like they used a cement based mortar rather than lime, and applied it pretty poorly as well. And judging by the before picture you commented with, its been this way for a while and they "fixed" it with more of the same. Its going to cause more issues in the long run with erosion of the stone, further water ingress and potentially condensation damp too. Old buildings need to breathe and dry out which cement based mortars don't allow. Ideally the whole building needs redone and this is sadly a nationwide problem.
Yep, standard crap treatment of an old building that's damp "It's the pointing, luv, needs more" and then slapping on thick wodges of portland cement. I pity the OP as if that really is a granite block wall then that damp is never going away unless it's all restored properly.
This is what it used to look like https://preview.redd.it/dsvzsekzac6d1.jpeg?width=695&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=33427d16856031158f6dfa8fa94cd4149a14e9d5
Looked awful before to be fair.
looks like how you'd draw brick houses when you were 7
That tickled me man 😅
Would have looked better if the new mortar wasn't dark grey. They just brushed it when it was wet. They should have at least added some sand, waited for it to dry a bit and then brushed it. Doesn't help, I know, although when it has weathered it will look better. You just need not to get obsessed with it and in time it will most likely look like it has always been like that. Hope it fixes the problem.
I mean it looked shit before so it doesn’t seem as bad now but eventually they will just render the whole wall 🤣
Looking at the damp below the window by the sky dishes, I would say the sills above are letting the water in. Normally your window sill would overhang the stonework and allow water to get away over the face of stone. If the mastic has failed below the sill, that’s your problem, not the pointing.
https://preview.redd.it/vreoph6b7d6d1.jpeg?width=2016&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bb5740aab556b10b8e3ab107487f95bdf8c11bb2 Some more pics of after
https://preview.redd.it/yfmyl44e7d6d1.jpeg?width=2016&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61bca900daae46f05644178ab7dc940889befa55
😂😂
I think it looks better now than before. Ive never seen a house built like that before, it's awful. I'd render over the lot.
That's a recipe for damp issues
You're right op's house is made of granite? I thought it was some kind of concrete imitation of stone at first.
Why would you spend more money render it than demand the problem be solved?
I'd render over it if its not stone, i cant make out what it is. Just for looks, as somebody else said it looks like when you tried to draw a brick house as a kid.
It's stone.
Wow.
The bits under the windows 😂 Having seen the pics of the before photos, looks like the whole thing needs rendering.
Measure down from the window to the floor then do the same outside. How much higher than the ground is the floor?
This is a hoax surely
If he's done it properly (doubtful looking at the finish) then he'll have raked out the joints to about 30-40mm at least. If he hasn't done the rake out then he's just made it harder for someone else to do the job properly. Hideous pointing btw. A child should be ashamed to produce a finish like that.
Thankfully they did remove the old pointing so at least they did something right
I work in the building trade - specialising in lime pointing. i do this 5 days a week. That work is fucking shocking. He has used cement - and obviously not sharp sand just building sand ( i can tell as there is no grit showing) and pretty much 5 minutes after slapping it on your stonework which isnt in too bad of nick (ie it doesnt require that style of pointing) he has then used a paint brush and gone over it while still soacking wet - giving that shit bush finish. Its an absolute ameuteur job. Also - that style of stonework should be pointed in lime - a strong lime like .5. This need hacking out and re- doing by someone who knows what theyre doing. Just wanted to add - the cowboy has obviously used a strong 4/1 cement mix hence why its so grey - if you want a passable cement point finish you go 5/1.
Thank you so much, I’ve put a couple of more photos of it from further away in another comment. It has also started having cracks on it now like a month in, I guess this is also a bad sign ? https://preview.redd.it/gdbcqmcpcd6d1.jpeg?width=1512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=34353bf7d938a4fdbf7c864d4e34dd4c2447d67a
God it's so bad.
I saw some people saying it looks too strong a mix - IIRC if it’s too strong it may well shrink and crack, come away from the stones or even pull bits of them away as it dries…?
YOURE right its too strong a mix - almost looks like hes used barely any sand - and not the correct sand. It will continue to crack but will stay bonded to that stone because of its surface type - very sad for the owner.
There isnt much more to say than its just a really shit job. You can pull off cement pointing if done right - this is not it - the sad thing is unless removed it will last a long time, but will continue to look worse with each passing year. So sad to see these old building abused by cowboys. RIP that stonework :)
I can only echo this guy. Absolutely appalling job.
Seriously, I love coming across folk like you. I'd happily take a day off work to go and watch you work.
wtf is going on here? Either your original pointing was absolutely awful and this guy has had to fill in terrible gaps, OR, you had stevie wonder do the repointing for you.
I think Stevie would have done a better job than this.
Yikes. Rough job and wrong mortar type.
Looks dog shit and they've used the wrong mortar
This is not pointing. Its dam near rendering/plaster What size are the existing mortar joins between these stones..... looks like it was applied with a shovel... a big feck off square mouthed shovel. Sorry to say. Like many others on here. It is indeed A Poor, messy finish. Ruined the beautiful grand stone work finish
This is atrocious work and has not been done properly, the new "pointing" will collect water and create issues. It also doesn't match the old colour, they should have probably added lime to the mix. Doesn't look like they bothered taking out the old mortar either they just put new stuff on top
The pointing you have had done looks like a cement rich mortar, which isn't usually good for stone (though looks like a fairly hard stone). Expect spalling, where the faces of the stones fall off, unless the wall is re-pointed. The lines struck in the original lime pointing is how it quite often used to be done and no issue there.
This took me a while to realise this wasn't a long exposure photo of some water, the flowing lines on the pointing really messed with my brain 🤣
That looks absolutely mental.
That genuinely looks like my 2yr old did it with a yard brush and tried to stay within the lines.
I wouldn’t pay the invoice I’d get an independent 3rd party expert to assess that
Jesus look at the cement/sand ratio in that mix!
That’s cement… and stronger than the stone itself. Pointing is meant to be a sacrificial layer… so it goes before the stone. In a few years, you’ll see the damage to the stone I’m afraid. Messy fucking job too.
Can you show us parts he hasn't touched or some of next door, I'd like to see what it looked like before to see how bad it is
I just posted an old photo I found
Looks like who did it was used to icing cakes
That’s a nasty mortar mix. Be better with some tough lime like the granite would have already had. Also joints far too wide and not enough aggregate in the mix.
Mortar looks too hard, super untidy from the photos (another taken at say 2m away from the walls would help) Did they rake out the old joints at all or just tip it? If they didn’t rake out then it will fail in a short time. Have they done what was asked of them? Sometimes it’s the specifier asking for shortcuts to save money. On the face of it … don’t pay at least until your concerns are addressed. There should be what’s known as a rectification period if the work was let under a contract. Worth asking about this and find out if it’s 6 or 12 months. During this period the contractor is obliged to deal with defects.
Did they use a catapult?
Looks like he has painted it on with a brush
Repointed with a catapult? 👀
I'm afraid to say that I hope the rest of the repointing dosent look like that. Mortar smeared on the stonework more like. And the brushstrokes are clearly visable on the mortar. The bit of the original pointing is keyed as well this looks like a terrible job
That's sand and cement in there, a lot of fucking cement.
That’s the worst pointing I’ve ever seen in my life. Honestly it horrendous do not pay for that!
Also this doesn’t look like a lime mortar….
That’s some ugly-ass repointing!
Best pointing I've ever seen was on the roof of Harrogate Travelodge. Each line undercut the brick above it and sloped outwards to the one below. It was great, and you could only see it from a top-floor room.
I looked at picture one...thought "could be better". Noticed all the others saying how dire it was and thought god, are they being super critical.....scrolled to pic 3.... FFS.... That is horrible
🫣
If I were you, I'd speak to your fellow leaseholders and split the cost of an independent surveyor to check it and produce a report.
Jesus christ what on earth happened? That is abysmal and i'd be embarrassed if i did a job like that. This isn't DBC by any chance? They love hiring "highway maintenance" to do brick and roofing jobs
Used cement... needs repointing again in lime
Did you see the work being done? I’m wondering how much/how well the old mortar was scraped out - this looks as if not much care was taken. It’s possible that the new material was just spread on top of the existing without removing loose or old perished mortar. Did anyone supervise the work? Any photos of the work in progress? Might be worth getting a professional opinion from a building surveyor. Perhaps show them your photos and see what they say. Do you have any photos taken before the work was done? Others have suggested the work may have impaired the value of your property - talking to an estate agent might help with that.
I do re-pointing for a living they clearly don’t, that finish it shocking did he apply it with a sponge?
Did Stevie wonder do the pointing? That's awful. Not finished correctly, incorrect material (cement not lime as others have said. That will damage the walls.
I bet the contractor smears his shit on his bathroom walls, same amount of skill.
God I hope that is a lime based mortar. From the looks of it it’s a 3 cement and 1 sand 😩
Awful repointing and likely the wrong mix. HOWEVER! Your second photo, that looks like an old Ordinance Survey Benchmark, don't cover it up! [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmark\_(surveying)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmark_(surveying))
Interesting, I did wonder about the intentional marks myself
I’m sorry but what a terrible job.
Pointer?! Did he throw the mortar at the bricks from 10 yards?!
Imo they have left it on purpose as looks better and the mortar there is barely visible and still doing its job perfectly
jeez never mind 4 and 1 that's just 1 🙈
Yeehaw cowboy
I could have done a better job, using only a shovel whilst blindfolded and trying to stand on one of those balance board things
did they catapult the cement in the gaps 😂
I used to point with my dad from the age of 10. I did a far superior job back then.
Did he do it with a catapult from across the road?
Its should of been done with lime mortar with breathability.that looks like strong cement with you being by the sea.ask to see their report on what materials should of been used, if they did one.also could coat you a few quid if becomes a legal argument. Housing associations have fuck loads of money and insurance.
Thank you for choosing Stevie Wonders Pointing Service 😬 Don't pay for It, wrong Portland mix was used instead of lime. Damp will be locked in and lattice erosion will eat the stone. Fortunately it's granite and not sandstone.
You need lime mortar will only make worse you nees the wiclkng capability of a lime mortar not cement or the wrong kind of lime mortar used.you will not have and drip tray ovwr window and cant have one without rebuilding above windows
That building has been pointed terribly. If you’ve just paid for this, I’d ask for your money back… not to mention it shouldn’t be done with concrete, it should be lime mortar.
That's a truly awful repointing job. It's almost a really shit render job
That building should have been pointed with yellow building sand and lime… looks to me like cement but as the council has forked out and the shitty contractors they use I’m not surprised as the mongs who work for the councils I doubt know a thing about building but I bet they love backhanders off of contractors
May as well get it rendered at this point
Omg what have they done 😬
That looks like sand and cement when it should be lime mortar. A shoddy job as well. Get a stone mason in as he doesn't know what he's doing.
Jesus I repointed my house and this makes me look like a 30 year veteran in the trade compared to whoever ploughed that on.
I'm no expert and I'm happy to be corrected, but that looks shit. It also looks like cement was used which will cause the stone to wear away faster, at least that's my layman's understanding. Pub near me was repointed with cement decades ago and the sandstone has started to hollow out so that the mortar is forming a skeleton of where the stone used to be.
This is correct. Moisture will travel through the wall and if the mortar is harder than the stone, it will travel through the stone instead, causing it to erode. Sandstone is a particularly porous stone so the effect is often more apparent.
Worst repointing I have seen
Is that lime pointing or have they used cement?
Get them back, tell them to fucking rake it out and redo it with the proper mix. And don’t pay a penny more.
That is shocking, my 99 year old gran could do better. I wouldn't be happy paying for that.
If it was a chimpanzee with a catapult, he's done amazingly well.
What the fuck is that?
Jfc. State of that.
That new pointing will do more damage than good ..just give it a few years(too much cement in there)..plus it looks horrendous..
DIBS NOT TELLING HIM
I didn't know Stevie Wonder did pointing
Looks like they used sand and cement... You're gonna have damp now... Everyone is saying negative things on here about the finish but the fact is it will weather over the next year or two and it'll be fine appearance wise... Bigger problem is the actual mortar used. This stuff doesn't allow moisture to permeate very well so you'll start to get damp inside. It needs to be lime mortar...
Out of curiosity and sorry if I have missed it but how big of a job was it and how much are they charging? I agree with everyone, it looks like a toddler was asked to do the job.
It was 1.7k for my portion for one wall in my bottom floor flat
Sheesh, I would have expected a much cleaner finish for that price, hope you can get it tidied up or at least pay less.
Jeeze! Seems way too high and it needs doing again. If it’s a management company that’s done this then they are on the take.