Repointing in Branksome

Raking out is done by hand. The old mortar is raked out to a depth of about twice the height of the joint, down to firm material. On soft Edwardian brick that is done with a plugging chisel and a rake, not an angle grinder or a disc cutter, which widens the joint and takes the arris off the bricks either side. The joints are then brushed out and damped down so the new mortar does not dry too fast.

The right mix. On a solid wall built before 1919 the mortar has to be softer and more breathable than the brick, so the wall can dry out through the joints. That means a natural hydraulic lime, NHL, with a sand chosen for colour and grade, as the guidance on lime and cement in traditional mortars explains. The inter-war and post-war houses were built in cement gauged mortar with harder bricks, and there a cement, lime and sand mix is right. We match what came out.

The joint finish. Flush, weather struck, bucket handle and recessed joints all look different from the road. We match the finish you have, and agree it on a small trial panel first if the wall shows. A recessed joint on an exposed wall holds water, so we rarely recommend one.

Undoing hard cement pointing. Plenty of older walls were repointed at some point in strong grey cement. It looks sound, but the moisture that used to leave through the mortar now leaves through the brick face, and frost spalls it off. Cutting that pointing out is slow and careful work. Bricks that have lost their face are cut out and replaced with a reclaimed match, and if a wall has cracked or moved, that is bricklaying in Branksome rather than pointing.

Chimneys and garden walls. A stack has open joints long before the house does, and because it sits above the flashings, water there gets into the roof. A garden wall takes rain on both faces and from the coping down. A chimney wants a scaffold, a gable end often a tower, and a garden wall neither.

Blocks and converted houses. Around four in ten Branksome homes are flats, in blocks from the 1960s and 70s behind Poole Road or in older houses divided up. The outside walls belong to the freeholder, so the managing agent orders the repointing and a large job may need the leaseholders consulted under section 20 first. We price each elevation separately with photographs, which makes that paperwork simpler, and point the worst wall first if the weather is getting in.

No rate per square metre, because the square metres tell you almost nothing until somebody has looked at what the joints are actually like.

Getting to it. A detached Edwardian Branksome house near County Gates with a tall stack, a 1960s semi with a side path wide enough for a tower, and a block of flats off Poole Road where the managing agent books the work are three different set ups. A chimney or a gable wants a scaffold, a boundary wall wants nothing at all. How long the platform stands matters as much as how big it is, and the work at height rules are why it is a priced line rather than something absorbed into a rate.

The joints decide it, not the wall. Raking out by hand is slow, and on soft brick it is the only safe way, because a disc widens the joint and takes the arris off either side. How deep the joints have to come back, and whether the faces have already spalled, sets the hours far more than the area does.

Matching is the part that shows. Too strong a mix is the classic mistake: cement holds water against a soft brick and the face blows off in the first hard frost. Lime is slower to work and slower to cure, and it is the right answer on most pre-1919 walls in Branksome.

Comparing quotes? Ask how deep the joints are being raked and whether by hand or by disc, what the mortar mix is and whether it has been matched to what is there, how many spalled bricks are being cut out and replaced, and whether the scaffold is in the price. A quote that skips those points is hard to judge.

We cover Branksome and BH12, from County Gates and Brunstead Road along Poole Road past the station and up to Alder Road, and next door into Westbourne and Parkstone. BCP Council is the planning authority, and we are based in Boscombe.

You are dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building, the trading name of Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, which you can look up in a minute. Thomas Hannen's business, and he is the one who comes out to price the job, not a salesman. A verified customer's 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit and the written quote are both free. Before you book a visit in Branksome, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Branksome need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.