repointing using metric brick to replace broken imperial

[tinat]

I am having my house completley repointed and noticed that the builders matching bricks around 30 are not the same size as the old damaged ones
they are replacing. Will this give me a problem should I mention it and should they also be replacing brick with the faces spalled they have told me not but I am not convinced. But am a novice in DIY. Would appreciate any help you can give.

 

[RonnyRaygun]

The builders should source good quality reclaimed bricks if they can't source new ones of the same size. In fact reclaimed bricks will match in much better than new ones. With new metric bricks at best it's going to look patchy and the new metric bricks will stick out like a sore thumb - especially to you, and it will annoy you every time you look at your house!

If a brick is spalled it needs to be replaced. Water will penetrate far more easily and this could lead to damp patches (especially if the wall is 9" solid, which they often were in the old days).
Apart from this, if the brick is spalled then it will weather quickly. A few freeze/thaw cycles in winter and it will crumble. It'll have to be replaced eventually anyway.

Craig.

 

[theoldun]

The builders should source good quality reclaimed bricks if they can't source new ones of the same size. In fact reclaimed bricks will match in much better than new ones. With new metric bricks at best it's going to look patchy and the new metric bricks will stick out like a sore thumb - especially to you, and it will annoy you every time you look at your house!

Looks like an arm chair bricklayer answering. Let me ask you a question?
If you have a genuine hard working local builder spending possibly 4 days driving all round the country, visiting every know re-claimed and demolition yard, and still not being able to find a matching brick, will you be happy to pay his invoice of possibly £800.00
Do you know that the difference in a bed joint in a metric brick and an imperial brick is. approx .00125mm. Unless of course you have got a house built of all the rubbish and reject Belgium bricks that flooded the country in the 60s.

To the OP. If you are not happy that he is not taking out any bricks that you feel should be replaced, then tell the builder so. You are the one paying the shillings. He is the one taking your instructions.
old un.

 

[RonnyRaygun]

Old 'Un.

I never said I was a bricklayer, but then you don't need to be a bricklayer to know when a wall looks patchy.
Maybe this is something that the owner of the house should have sorted out with the brickie before the job started. Personally I would look to source matching bricks myself and then there shouldn't be any problems.

I don't think anyone would expect a genuine hardworking builder to spend possibly four days travelling all round the country...but then it is 2010 and the telephone and the internet have both been invented...

As for the bed joints. Yes, the standard bed joint in a metric wall is 10mm. The standard bed joint in an imperial wall is 3/8 inch, which works out to 9.525mm. That's a difference of 0.475mm, which isn't very much, admittedly, although a quite a bit more than the 0.00125mm you state.

However, a metric brick is 215x65mm. Imperial bricks vary from any where between 225x68mm to 230x80mm. Lets assume it's 225x68 bricks. When you replace this with a 215x65 brick you will have joints of nearly 15mm to the sides and 12mm above and below.
In a worst case scenario with 230x80mm bricks, you will end up with joints of around 17.5mm to the sides and 17.5mm top and bottom.

Are you going to tell me this won't look patchy especially if the face of the brick doesn't match either.

As you say, if the customer isn't happy they should tell the builder. It's their house and they'll be the one living with the results. Personally, I'd go to lengths to make sure the bricks matched, although this is only an issue from an aesthetic point of view.

The spalled bricks are another matter. You wouldn't repoint a house and leave the spalled bricks in place would you?

Craig.

 

[stuart45]

Fair comments RonnyRaygun. I am lucky to have a merchant close by who runs a brick matching service and can often source odd bricks. However even a close match can sometimes look a lot different when in the wall.
I must admit that a lot of bricklayers will not make any attempt to match the bricks or mortar and rely on it weathering in over the years.