Age and type of house

What should you ask if a stone cottage has been repointed with cement?

Ask whether the stone face is blowing because the pointing is harder than the stone. Cement ribbons on a lime-built wall can trap water. The survey sees open joints, cement smears and delaminating stone. It does not, from a visual inspection, write a mortar specification, and it does not call that pattern subsidence.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

What is the fuller explanation?

The repair is careful raking out and a compatible mortar, plus dealing with gutters that soak the wall. It is slow and easy to do badly. A surveyor should not tell you to “render it over”. Covering failed stone hides the evidence and can make the damp worse. Listed-building consent may be required. The survey does not grant it.

There is no national price per square metre on this page. A mason who works on lime should see the elevation. Do not accept a general builder’s rate for brick pointing as if stone were the same job. Cement ribbon pointing on soft stone is a specification the survey has not designed. Ask the mason what they will use and why.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Is the stone delaminating, or is the cement only ugly?
Are gutters discharging on this wall?
Might consent be needed before repointing?

What are the typical next steps?

Get a lime-literate mason to look, not a damp-injection leaflet.
Fix the water from above before you spend on the joints.
Ask the solicitor about listing or a conservation area before work is specified.

Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.

Also asked about this

Is lichen on stone a defect?

Not by itself. It is not cement pointing and not a crack. Do not clean it off with a pressure washer.

Does a damp meter on internal plaster prove the cement pointing is the cause?

No. The meter does not name the path. The outside face still has to be read.