Repoint 100+ year old internal brick wall?

[iwilson16]

Hi,

I have stripped two rooms in a Victorian flat back to joists and brick in order to insulate, re-wire etc.

There are 4 brick walls that were previously plastered. My preference is to batten the walls, and plasterboard over the battens, rather that dot-n-dab plasterboard. That way, its much easier to add sockets, put up shelving etc. (Also, I'll be flattening out the recess you see on the right of the first photo with a small framed false wall)

Should I get the walls repointed before battening? The mortar between the bricks is old lime mortar thats now very crumbly (see photos). I worry that drilling for the battens will loosen things a bit too much.

If I were to repoint, whats the ballpark labour cost? There are 4 walls, approx 40 sq.m total.

Thanks
Ian

Internal brick wall 1

• iwilson16
• 4 Jun 2017

Internal brick wall 2

• iwilson16
• 4 Jun 2017

Internal brick wall 3

• iwilson16
• 4 Jun 2017

Internal brick wall 5

• iwilson16
• 4 Jun 2017

Internal brick wall 4

• iwilson16
• 4 Jun 2017

 

[iwilson16]

Anyone ... ?

 

[John D v2.0]

You could do a parge coat instead of pointing, it would be a lot quicker. I'm sure it would help the air tightness too

 

[iwilson16]

That's a good idea. It would also have the advantage of levelling wall since part if it has new mortar over a bricked up fireplace.

Only issue would be not knowing there the centre of the bridge are for drilling holes for the battens.

Ian