Brick and stone have been used to build houses for thousands of years. Most of those years, the houses stayed dry. Its only recently that modern interference with time tested methods and materials has resulted in massive damage to our old buildings. Common problems include raking out using electric angle grinders which damage delicate brickwork, removing lime mortar and replacing with impervious cement. This causes water to be trapped into the structure of the wall, and this in turn will destroy the brickwork or stonework as it tries to escape. In winter, the damp wall will split and flake as it gets cold and freezes. These pages show you some of the problems, and how to address them.
We look in more detail at the different types of lime as well.
Basically there are two types – hydraulic (NHL’s) and non-hydraulic (putties and hot-limes). Its confused people a lot as they think NHL stands for non hydraulic – it does NOT! It means Natural Hydraulic Lime. Hydraulic means that it sets under water – which essentially means you need some cement in there of one form or another to create a chemical set. We’ve written a detailed page on differing types of lime here.
If you ever feel the need to ‘repoint’ your brickwork or stonework – STOP! Think – and look. Is it REALLY neccessary? Why are you telling yourself it needs to be done? We very seldom actually see brickwork that NEEDS to be pointed. More often than not, a bodgit builder has convinced someone it is needed – most of the time it’s not. Done properly, raking out by hand, and repointing in lime mortar matched to the right hardness (softness) and grit content is not cheap. You’ll probably be looking at around £150 to £300 a square metre.
The pages in this section will show you examples of problems, and how they are caused. We will show you solutions. If you actually need work doing, we may be able to help recommend contractors.