Slate dpc removal and replacement and pointing

[asg]

Hi. I have already posted this but on the wrong topic thread. I have a Victorian semi detached. The bricks at the side of the house below and just above dpc look pretty degraded to me with some pointing missing. I got a builder with hundreds of good reviews etc to quote for brick replacement and repointing where necessary. He said to replace the slate dpc at the same time. I was a bit reluctant to do this as I have no problems with damp but I considered him the expert so agreed. He arrived and said they would do three rows of pointing above and one below the dpc. I was surprised as this sounded a lot of work as well as brick replacement. They arrived early and completed by 12.30. They used an angle grinder to remove the slate dpc. The quality of the pointing is very poor, no bricks were replaced, and one of my bricks now has a hairline crack. The dpc has been left sticking out about 1/2 inch (this varies) and the top of the plastic dpc has mortar on in a downward slope fashion if that makes sense. Please see photos. I have never heard or seen this practice before. The mortar is already falling off the plastic dpc as it’s flexible of course, and the mortar is not adhering to the plastic.I have told him I am not happy and he is returning (hopefully) tomorrow. Can anyone offer any advice or opinion on this. I want to know if anyone has heard of such a practice of using mortar on plastic dpc. I am really concerned the dpc has not been done correctly too, but will probably not know the answer until winter comes. Any opinion welcome. I am feeling pretty intimidated at the thought of his and two sons return as a 68 year old woman and want to know I am on solid ground when I speak to him. Many thanks.

[Mike]

5 hours ago, asg said:

They arrived early and completed by 12.30

Rather like underpinning, cutting through the full depth of a wall, to fully replace a DPC or all the bricks should be done in short sections, so that the rest of the wall remains supported, with several days between sections. It's not something that can be done in a morning...

 

5 hours ago, asg said:

They used an angle grinder

...so if they also used an angle grinder, rather than a disc cutter, I guess that the just did something superficial on the outside. In which case, how - if at all - did they join the plastic DPC to the portion of the slate DPC that they left deeper in the wall? I fear that they may have made the damp situation (if there ever was one) worse.

 

I'd be looking for a different builder.

 

Edited May 27 by Mike

[asg]

Thanks Mike. You have said what I very much suspected. I think I have given myself a problem where there was none.