Bricking up window - breathability

[jayc89]

As part of some remodelling we're doing, I've had someone come up to move a couple of windows and brick one up. Given the house is old, I was quite meticulous in who I wanted to work on it, making sure whoever it is has a track record of using the right materials for the job. 

 

I found someone local, a young lad, who's done quite a bit of restoration work on older properties using lime mortar. He knew what he was talking about and his past work looks good.

 

Sods law that I'm away with work the way he can fit the job in, but SWMBO is at home, so he cracks on. The other half sends me pictures of the finished job and on the inside of the wall he's built up, where one of the windows were, there are a couple of concrete blocks bedded into it...

 

It's not necessarily the end of the world, because it'll be getting plastered over, but I find it odd that someone who knows of all the benefits of using lime over cement, and has re-used clay bricks for the outside face of the wall, would stick lumps of concrete in too. The written quote clear states, "rebuild wall with bricks to match"...

 

Small sections like this likely won't cause any long term problems, but it's sending my OCD wild. I haven't paid him yet, should I be standing my ground?

[PeterW]

I’d expect that to refer to any visible wall, not the internal wall that will be plastered. He’s done a decent job on the visible stuff then pay him and learn for future that you specify both skins although I would think that’s overkill