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The problem with theoretical designs is that sooner or later some bricky comes along and fills up the weep holes when he repoints the house, or spiders build their nests in them and block them up. Maybe air bricks were the better option.

I think the main point that the later info made was that the cavity should be ventilated, but the amount of ventilation given by air bricks was excessive, and enough was given by weep holes. I can see how it works on your house, as you've got internal insulation and well placed 9x3 air bricks...

In fairness to ree, the advice about air bricks being used for ventilation of the cavity was changed later on. From W B McKay in the 30's. ' An important matter affecting the heat insulating value of a cavity wall is the extent to which the cavity should be ventilated. Formerly, it was generally...

High and low level air bricks as cavity vents stopped being used years ago, because they caused cold spots on the inner skin, and increased the U value of the wall to more than a 9 inch solid wall. Ventilation in the cavity is still required for timber framed houses, but a more even flow is...

Softwood timber windows were normally built in using frame cramps, although hardwood ones with an unpainted finish were usually fitted at the end of the job. If it's face brickwork you might need to tooth out the brickwork a fair bit to get it to look good against the frame. You don't want a...

Is it a timber or plastic window?

NHL 3.5 goes off almost as quick as a 6/1/1 mix when you are repointing.

It still looks like cement/building sand. The reason you can't see the larger grains is that when you joint up with a metal tool it brings a cement laitance to the surface. That might have been repointed in the past. The style is weather struck, and done with pointing trowels. Here's some steps...

As Charlie said, most 50's construction used cement mortar with lime added as a plasticizer. Sand/cement mortar is not very workable without lime or plasticizer added. Building sand looks like in the photo once the surface has weathered. A course sharp sand would be hard to work with.

You can get V jointers, as well as some cheap junk, but the better ones are made by Rose. They aren't the original company, but the jointers and trowels are still good. I've still got one of the original Rose trowels with the leather handle I've had for years now. The metal on the old Rose...

There's a jointer the Yanks use called a sled runner that's good for getting a straight line along a thicker bed.

It can be cleaned, although textured bricks are a bit harder. You can get brick and mortar stains as well. If the colour of the joints was toned down a bit they wouldn't look as bad. Having really contrasting joints works really well on high quality brickwork, like a gauged arch, but not so well...

You're in a generous mood woody. I'd say he's a very inexperienced bricklayer, probably trying to tie into 2 7/8 inch imperial brickwork, which was 4 to 13 inches. This would give close to 20mm joints, which at this time of the year with damp wire cuts is why he's had the mortar oozing out and...

Every photo seems to get worse. Has your mate booked a tanker load.of acid for next week?

It's a metal tool to finish the joints. The size of them suggests he needs one the size of a scaffold tube.

That's takes some effort to lose 2 courses in that height. Maybe he's got shares in Blue Circle. Wonder if all his jobs are done like this.

Both the bed and cross joints are miles too big.

You can if you want, but it goes off really quick, so you need to work it into shape really quick. Probably best to mix up just enough for one side at a time. Normally when a drain is in use you block the inlets long enough for the final set. The benching normally doesn't get much over it in...

This was the internal wall of a barn conversation I worked on years ago. Turned out that manure had been piled up high against the wall and the salts had penetrated the wall. The wet dabs had brought them through to the surface.

Air usually goes both ways through a wall, but with a cavity wall it will normally condense on the inside of the outer skin. If your inner walls were full of salts, then condensation would be the main issue, so maybe you drylined the walls?