Brick and Stone Repair Questions Checklist

Note which elevations are brick, which are stone and where the two meet, since many houses were extended in a different material at some point.

A change of material usually marks a change of age, and the two parts often behave and weather quite differently.

Record how the units are laid on each elevation, including whether the pattern changes part way up or around an opening, and photograph the change.

A change in the laying pattern often shows where an opening was altered or a section was rebuilt by someone else.

Note whether the brick faces look handmade and irregular or machine-made and sharp-edged, and whether stone faces are dressed smooth or left rough.

How the original faces were produced sets a realistic expectation of what any matching repair can look like.

Record whether any wall has been painted, limewashed, sealed or coated, and note where that coating is peeling, blistering or discoloured.

Taking a coating off masonry can bring the faces with it; ask a qualified professional what removal would involve before anything is stripped.

Mark on a sketch every area that looks rebuilt, patched or infilled, such as a blocked opening, a newer stack or a repaired corner.

Patched areas are usually where later problems reappear, and they tell a professional a great deal about the history of the building.

Write down which elevations are seen from the street and which are hidden, so appearance and repair can be weighed differently on each face.

Owners often accept a visible repair on a rear wall that they would never accept on the front elevation.

Note where mortar has washed back behind the face of the units, and whether that is happening across a whole elevation or only in isolated patches.

Whether erosion is general or local moves the discussion between a whole-wall job and a much more targeted repair.

Note any bands of hard grey mortar that look different from the rest, often found around openings or at low level where earlier repairs were made.

Mixed mortars on one wall usually mean several generations of repair, each done to a different idea of what was right at the time.

Photograph the joint profile close up in good daylight, showing whether joints sit recessed, flush, struck, or smeared over the face of the units.

The joint profile changes how an elevation reads from a distance at least as much as the colour of the mortar does.

Press gently into a joint in an inconspicuous spot with a fingernail or a blunt key, and note whether the mortar feels sandy, crumbly or unyielding.

Do not rake, chisel or wash out joints yourself; how far a joint should be cut back is a decision for a qualified professional.

Ask a qualified professional what mortar suits this particular wall and why, and write down the reasoning rather than only the answer itself.

A mortar that suits one wall can damage another; this is a judgement about your building that only a suitably qualified person can make.

Write down whether you are being advised to repoint whole elevations or only failed areas, and ask what happens where new work meets untouched joints.

Fresh pointing beside weathered joints is one of the most visible outcomes on an old wall, so it should be a decision rather than a surprise.

Photograph every crack with an everyday object alongside it for scale, and write the date on the record so later photographs can be compared with it.

A crack that has not changed between two dated photographs is a very different conversation from one that has.

Note whether each crack steps along the mortar joints or runs straight through the bricks or stones themselves, and photograph both kinds separately.

Professionals read those two patterns differently, and it is something an owner can observe without any equipment at all.

Note whether a crack looks wider at one end than the other, and which end that is, without trying to work out what the difference means.

Interpreting crack patterns belongs with a qualified professional; nothing you observe should be treated as a conclusion about the structure.

Sight along each elevation from a corner, low down and again higher up, and note anywhere the face bows outwards, dishes in or leans.

Bulging or leaning masonry should be looked at by a qualified professional promptly rather than simply watched over time.

Record any door or window that has started to bind or stick, and note where it sits in relation to cracking visible on the outside.

Internal symptoms and external cracks considered together give a professional far more to work with than either does alone.

Note any large tree, drain run or recent excavation near the affected wall, including work carried out on a neighbouring property.

Ground and drainage causes need investigating by a qualified professional; do not have anything removed on the assumption it is the cause.

Note where brick or stone faces have flaked, blown or crumbled away, and mark each of those areas on your sketch of the elevation.

Damage is rarely random, and its position on the wall usually points towards where water has been reaching the masonry.

Record how close the worst decay sits to the ground, to a gutter joint, to a downpipe or to a sill, rather than describing it as general wear.

Repairing a face without dealing with whatever wets it tends to produce the same damage again in the same place.

For stone, note whether faces are peeling away in layers, and whether that is happening on particular blocks rather than across the whole wall.

How a stone was laid affects how it weathers, which is why decay can appear on some blocks and not on their neighbours.

Record any white powdery or crusty deposits on the wall, where they appear and whether they come and go with the weather.

Salt deposits usually indicate water moving through the wall, and when they show up is as informative as where they show up.

Note where algae, moss or lichen has taken hold on the masonry, and write down what sits directly above or beside each of those areas.

Persistent growth marks the parts of a wall that stay wet longest, which is often the underlying issue rather than the appearance.

Ask what a professional would do with badly decayed units, whether cutting them out, turning them, repairing the face or leaving them in place.

Whether a decayed unit can stay is a judgement about this wall; ask a qualified professional rather than deciding on appearance alone.

Record where soil, paving, decking or a raised bed meets each wall, and whether the level appears to have been built up since the house was built.

What ground level against a wall means for damp is for a qualified professional to assess; do not have paving cut back on an assumption.

Note every ventilation opening at low level and whether any has been painted over, blocked, buried by soil or covered by later building work.

Low-level ventilation is easily lost during earlier work, and its absence often shows up later as damp or musty air indoors.

Record where damp, staining or salting appears indoors and mark it on the same sketch as the external observations, at roughly the same heights.

Matching an internal patch to an external feature is the single most useful thing an owner can prepare for this conversation.

Note every gutter joint, downpipe and hopper that drips, splashes or overflows, and how far each one sits from the worst decay on the wall.

Rainwater goods are a very common source of concentrated wetting and are usually among the first things a professional asks about.

Note ivy, climbers or self-seeded growth on the wall, on parapets or in a stack, and photograph where roots have entered the joints.

Pulling established growth off masonry can take the face with it; ask a qualified professional how it should be dealt with here.

Ask whether any earlier damp treatment, injected course or waterproof coating has been applied, and gather whatever paperwork came with it.

Earlier treatments change what a professional will suggest, and their paperwork often names the exact areas already worked on.

Note what appears to carry the wall over each window and door, whether a brick arch, a stone head or something concealed, as far as you can see it.

What actually carries masonry over an opening must be established by a qualified professional before any repair there is planned.

Record any cracking that starts at the corner of an opening, and note whether the arch or head above it has dropped or opened at the joints.

Movement above an opening can be significant; ask a qualified professional to look at it rather than having the crack filled.

Note whether sills are cracked, eroded or sloping back towards the wall, and whether water runs clear of them or down the face beneath.

A failed sill concentrates water on the masonry directly below it, which is very often where the worst decay turns up.

Look at parapets, copings, verges and gable ends from ground level, using binoculars if you have them, and note anything loose, open or missing.

Do not climb to inspect high masonry; access at height should be arranged through qualified people with proper equipment.

Record the condition of any chimney stack as far as you can see it, and write down whether each flue is still in use, capped or abandoned.

Whether a flue is still in use changes both the repair discussion and what has to stay ventilated afterwards.

Note where an opening appears to have been filled in or formed later, and photograph how the newer masonry meets the older work around it.

Infilled openings move differently from the wall around them and are a common source of cracking that keeps coming back.

Ask for a sample panel of pointing or a trial repair on a discreet part of the wall, and look at it wet as well as dry before agreeing to more.

Mortar and stone repairs change colour considerably as they dry, so a single dry viewing tells you very little.

Ask where replacement bricks or stone would come from, whether reclaimed or newly made, and how closely they would sit beside the existing work.

Sourcing shapes the appearance of a finished masonry repair more than almost any other single decision in the job.

Agree where sound bricks or stone taken out during the work would be stored on the property, rather than letting them leave in a skip.

Salvaged units from the building itself are usually the closest match available when something has to be repaired again later.

Ask what cleaning, if any, is being proposed for the masonry, and what it would do to the faces and joints if it were carried out badly.

Abrasive and high-pressure cleaning can permanently damage masonry; discuss methods with a qualified professional before anything is cleaned.

Ask what a water-repellent or sealing coating would actually do to this wall, and what would follow if the wall is already holding moisture.

Coatings that slow a wall drying out can make damp worse; this needs a qualified professional who has assessed your wall, not a general answer.

Write down who is responsible for access equipment and for protecting glazing, planting and paving, and for keeping dust off neighbouring property.

Scaffolding, work at height and access over a neighbouring property carry specific responsibilities; agree them in writing before work begins.