repointing front facade - what terrible things am I doing?

[bfarwell]

So, the front facade needs to be repointed (or tuck pointed or whatever the proper lingo is - get some new mortar put in there between the bricks where it's missing) which it doesn't look like it has ever had done during its 100 years.

We got four estimates, with the cheap one at $6200 and the expensive one at $15,000 (one more around 10k, and one other that was tossed because the company didn't seem like one we wanted to deal with (their number, fwiw, was given over the phone just based on the size of the house (4 generous stories high, 17'6" wide).

The $6200 guy seems like someone I can deal with, but he's not a fancy sort of guy, and I worry/assume that he's going to use whatever is quick and functional rather than historical/lasting for another 100 years.

However, $6200 (plus a grand of buffer) is really all we can afford. We sure as heck can't afford 15k, and 10k isn't really workable either (we have some gas work that also needs to get done per the city/code/etc. which is another 2k in the next month or so.)

We can't put it off (house really needs it before the bricks start falling out) and I'm going to be making a lot less money next year, so now is the time to do it. My question is:

What sort of terrible damage am I doing to my house? I can't avoid it, but I guess I can try to minimize it by talking to the guy, or at least anticipate what will go wrong. I know he's not going to use an angle grinder to get into the joints and mess up our bricks (the joints are thin, so I made sure about that) but I assume his mortar is probably more cement-based than the folks at the historic register would use.

What else should I be waking up in the middle of the night about?

[Gothichome]

Before you pull the trigger on any of the contractors make sure you do not have old style soft bricks. If you do make sure who ever you chose does not use modern Portland cement mortar. It'll be the death of your brick. Also, see if they will get a colour match with the original mortar.

[bfarwell]

I'm pretty sure they're a harder brick than the older powdery ones, but I'll take a look again today. Is there an easy way to tell?

[JRC]

After a quick Google search, here is an article that might help:
http://www.oldhousejournal.com/magazine/1484

I just gleaned it, but it sounds like you have modern brick. There is a small chart with mortar mix recipes. Ask your mason if that's the kind of mix he'd be using. (I assume the "modern" mix)

[kyblue (WavyGlass)]

This is from the National Park Service, a repointing preservation brief: http://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/ ... joints.htm

[oaktree]

I have someone coming to tuck point my Michigan basement and stone chimney soon. Previous owners were doing this regularly, so I don't have much to do but will report back what I find out.

[DRJR]

So, the front facade needs to be repointed (or tuck pointed or whatever the proper lingo is - get some new mortar put in there between the bricks where it's missing) which it doesn't look like it has ever had done during its 100 years.

We got four estimates, with the cheap one at $6200 and the expensive one at $15,000 (one more around 10k, and one other that was tossed because the company didn't seem like one we wanted to deal with (their number, fwiw, was given over the phone just based on the size of the house (4 generous stories high, 17'6" wide).

The $6200 guy seems like someone I can deal with, but he's not a fancy sort of guy, and I worry/assume that he's going to use whatever is quick and functional rather than historical/lasting for another 100 years.

However, $6200 (plus a grand of buffer) is really all we can afford. We sure as heck can't afford 15k, and 10k isn't really workable either (we have some gas work that also needs to get done per the city/code/etc. which is another 2k in the next month or so.)

If you are not sure about the contractors work. Ask for photos, ask if he has another local job that you can look at.

[bfarwell]

Just an update - it's underway, it's not terribly pretty, and I'm a little annoyed/disappointed. However, it also doesn't look like it's going to be really horrible, and it will keep the bricks on the house where they belong.

So... just sort of meh. Ah, well.

[Mick_VT]

Just an update - it's underway, it's not terribly pretty, and I'm a little annoyed/disappointed. However, it also doesn't look like it's going to be really horrible, and it will keep the bricks on the house where they belong.

So... just sort of meh. Ah, well.

what specifically is not pretty about it?

[bfarwell]

They're not super neat, and the joints are very narrow (and somewhat irregular), so there is a fair amount of crap that gets on the face of the bricks (more than none, though it's not like they're just tossing mortar everywhere). They are using a colored mortar that is pretty close to the color of the existing brick, but they also used it to go between the limestone bits around the windows, where it stands out rather a lot.

You can't really see it from the street, but you can see it close up, and from the windows, and it's annoying.

But again, I don't feel like we had a whole lot of options because of price (and it's new york city, so it's hard enough to even get someone to do work at all), and we couldn't do it ourselves.