Old pointing causing leak?

[thelma57]

Hi all, I’ve posted about my old house/leak woes a few times 😅

We’ve had a reroof of our bay window roof done after an ongoing leak which the cause of couldn’t be diagnosed caused it to fall in. We’ve since also had the ceiling re-plastered.

Unfortunately in very bad rain we’re still noticing some water getting in. The same roofer who did the big job has said it could be the window above (which has been resealed) or, the pointing on the front of the house needing redoing.

My question is, can old or damaged pointing cause water to drip in? Damp I understand but to drip through the brick?

I don’t want to fork out more money on something which still isn’t going to solve the problem.

Yes.
The pointing on our chimney needed replacing. We found out after being woken up one stormy night with water dripping through our bedroom ceiling. It was running through the pointing then running along the sloping roofing felt in the attic then dripping down.

It had obviously been going on slowly for years (before we moved in) as there were old damaged patches in the back of the built in wardrobe. Pointing fixed 2021 & no further issues.

Thanks @HaveITheRightToHoldYouYouKnowIveAlwaysToldYou good to know!

I feel so skeptical these days!

Any pictures of the brickwork?

It can. The trouble with water is that it can track via some surprising routes (i.e. along a truss then down some wire then ending up...) so identifying the correct source is a process of elimination sometimes which isn't nice to hear.
But yes, if you've got driving rain and degraded pointing then it is a potential culprit.

But in principle the weather protection you enjoy is all about the integrity of the exterior structure.
Roof - in good nick and rainfall directed accurately to rainwater goods which catch and send water to correct drain.
Walls in good nick with all junctions with other walls/roof/conservatory/other structural elementsall in good order
Apertures all well sealed/called, so roof lights, chimney, Windows and doors etc.
So if all those elements are sound and true you should be fine. Any of those not ok and you'll get wet going somewhere.