Re pointing… quality of work

[Pipbandit]

Just had this done at my home.
I advised him this morning that I wasn’t happy and not to continue unless the standard was improved.
I returned home to this… obviously I cannot show all but it’s all the same standard.
First 2 photos of 2 replaced bricks and second 2 of pointing
I have not paid and would like your input please.
I have now been asked for payment and I’m really not happy about it all but need professional input on quality please.

 

[Gasguru]

He has absolutely no idea what he's doing.
Pointing London Rustics is a faff but with the correct technique there is no reason to mark the bricks. I doubt he's even raked out the joints for new pointing to be effective...and what has been done seems random.
Do not pay, he may issue a MCOL against you but he has no chance of claiming.
I would persue him for damaging the brickwork...sorting out that mess will be tricky.

 

[Pipbandit]

He did the raking out with a grinder and I pointed out that the joints should be 1.5-2cm deep and clean sharp edges for a good mortar grip and not sloped/curved…. Hes supposed to have 15yrs in the trade!

 

[johnny2007]

Whenever I took repointing jobs, I always had my boys doing the raking.
Angle grinder, raking tool at 25mm, hoovering and washing before calling the bricklayer in.
Then they had to be supervised to make sure they were filling the 25mm fully.
Bricklayers don't like the repointing preparation, so they usually get an angle grinder and score the existing mortar just enough to cover it with new one which comes off no long after.
I saw a "bricklayer" once do the whole front face of a semi detached in 2 days on his own.
It all came off after a few weeks.

 

[Gasguru]

He's making a mess of the brick edges
Unless the mortar is exceptionally hard there are attachments that fit grinders specifically for raking out the joints.

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• Gasguru
• Today at 9:08 AM

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Hes supposed to have 15yrs in the trade!

I would be asking him which trade?

 

[Pipbandit]

exactly

 

[Gasguru]

Those bricks are a pain to point....
You'd expect him to use a tuck pointer & hawk to fill the joints, then as the mortar has firmed up it's hit with a churn brush (stiff bristles) to remove any excess from the brick edges (without smearing) and finally the mortar can be compacted with the pointer.

 

[Pipbandit]

Thank you, I’ve reported to Trading Standards and collecting feedback from others in the trade to help my case. Nobody as yet, has said this is acceptable work. My property was due to go on the market in May , I had this as my last job and it’s just made the outside look 100 times worse, I’m angry and very upset