Help. Builder has sanded face of bricks on front of house

In trying to remove exterior paint and repoint the house, the builder has sanded the bricks on the whole front of the house so that these are now a golden colour and very soft. The whole front basically has severe spalling.

The house is Edwardian and it is a solid wall contruction.

The builder has said he will have to put a waterproof seal on this, but I am concerned about breathability of the wall and long term consequence of trying to do coat wall.

I had provided the chemicals to remove the paint, but in order to repoint, he justified the sanding to create sharp edges to the brick as he said some had crumbled (probably due to cement mortar, which I had asked to be replaced with lime based.)

He admitted he had not sanded the brick face of a whole house before, neither used weatherproofing, so god knows why he started on mine.

Another builder (through work colleague) suggested rendering or rebuild of whole front would be the solution. I had wondered whether turning bricks and rebuilding would work but this was said to unlikely be possible as the bricks would be damaged in removal.

I spoke to S.P.A.B (society for protection of ancient buildings) who suggested limewash (5 + coats) or a silicone (mineral) based paint to protect the wall, but that would have to monitor it. (they obviously disapprove of the waterproof seals as this affects how solid walls should work with breathability

Does anyone have any advice or help. I don't really want to cover the bricks back up, nor have to resort to recoating bricks every 2 years or so. I am furious with the builder which does not help my objectivity in deciding how to remedy the problem.

Many thanks.
Ed

Re build or render are long term solutions, the other options are short term.

Thanks. Yes, I feared that.

My worry is because the house is terrace in London, the appearance of the external facade will obviously have a financial impact on future values but also on the actual saleability of the place if the bricks have been replaced.

I have read that you should be cautious if using reclaimed bricks as you do not know their history or if they have had any treatments/chemicals put in them, or that bricks were made of different strengths for different tasks and you cannot be sure of what brick you are using.

Would cutting out and attempting to reuse the same bricks turned around be a realistic option, or I am looking basically of using new bricks (hopefully looking close to the originals)

Thanks,
Ed

What kind of finish do the other properties in the terrace have? . If you're concerned about the resale value & a 'painted' finish doesn't stick out like a sore thumb surely a lime-wash will be the best bet.
We had a listed property on the Welsh coast with traditional (white ) Lime-wash and even with the far more extreme climate it only needed redoing every 5th year.

Thanks Rich.

Yes, most of the other houses in the street are painted (probably not with limewash either, just masonary paint which I think ours was and which I understand is bad for the walls.)

We wanted to expose the bricks but this has backfired!!

My nervousness with limewash is that the brick I presume is now very permeable (not sure if right word in this situation, but will basically be more absorbant than should be) and the limewash is also permeable (to allow the wall to breathe and extract moisture), and so would this be sufficient as a protection long term (assuming repainted when required)?

post some pics!

pictures coming in 5.....

Your builder needs shooting!, I'd say he has used an angle grinder not a sander for this.

For future reference, there is a product called PeelAway which will chemically remove paint from bricks and I've seen some good results.

As for what you need to do now, I don't really know what would be best and hopefully someone with more experience will pop up and give you some suggestions..

yep. the whole front is like that too.

he initially used chemicals, but the reason he gave for the 'sanding' was re the repointing to get sharper edges as said the top and bottom lines of the bricks were crumbled.

I hope he's got insurance! though it may not cover negligence anyway and he may well phoenix his business.

I'm no expert but I would guess that a render is now the only option other than rebuild which would be very costly. There are brick tints but I think they are just that and don't provide protection. I doubt that a weatherproof seal would look good or be effective/good for the building.

How thick are the walls?

It is 2 bricks thick, as the house is a solid wall construction. Not sure of exact measurement of bricks but the house is circa 1905.

I think the only real option is render and paint, preferably lime based, you cannot remove bricks and turn them round as many are "headers"and go right through the wall tying the two leaves of brick. Never seen such a mess SUE HIM, Has he done this below the Damp course? Another problem altogether if so

Your builder should have followed the advice of manufacturers of cleaning products...

"Test on an inconspicuous area first"!!

Did he do the whole job without your go ahead?

You could take him to the small claims court, but what does a CCJ really mean? It's not expensive to go to court but unlikely you will ever get any compensation.

As said above, a good render job is the only way of making it look half decent without rebuilding.