External Brick - Condition Advice and Air Vents

[Jonboy88]

Hi there,
I’m looking for some advice on the external brickwork of my property I recently bought as my first flat.
I had a survey done which outlined that tue pointing needed re-doing, however I wanted some general advice about it as it didn’t go into toI much detail.
It was constructed in around 1805 in London and is Grade 2 listed.

As you can see in the left of the picture, there are air vents in the brickwork that run into the inside of the property. Not a single one of other the properties in the square have them which makes me think these were added in at one point. However if they really work necessary I’m sure they’d be in the other properties all of the same age and constructed in the same way.
One also appears in the bedroom which is to the party wall to next door.
Q1: what is the reason for these and could they be removed?

As you can see on the right hand side, there is what I can describe as patchiness to the brickwork? This isn’t evident in the inside of the building.
Q2: What is this? It looks very unsightly.

I look forward to hearing thoughts and advice!
Many thanks

 

[noseall]

Not a single one of other the properties in the square have them which makes me think these were added in at one point. However if they really work necessary I’m sure they’d be in the other properties all of the same age and constructed in the same way.

Not necessarily no. Occupancy, condensation build-up and location all contribute towards the rather idiosyncratic nature of how buildings behave. As does the level of insulation within as well as the venting.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Did it or does it have a solid fuel fire or appliance? If so then it may be required to allow that an adequate air supply.

It looks fairly recent.

 

[Jonboy88]

It will have had at some point as it’s an old Victorian property - but again all the properties in the square would have so I’m surprised that none of them show evidence of previous ones.

Did it or does it have a solid fuel fire or appliance? If so then it may be required to allow that an adequate air supply.

It looks fairly recent.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

It looks identical to the one that was fitted in our old house for a gas back-boiler that relied on air from the room to feed it.

It's not victorian, it's been added in recent decades. There would have been a reason for adding them.

What gas or solid fuel fires or boilers do you have now? It's possible that they're now redundant, but you can't just blindly seal them up if something needs an air supply.

Can you see any blemishes where they've been removed from other rooms of the same building? Probably not, because yours aren't original.