Most of E17 was built between 1880 and 1910 — late Victorian and Edwardian terraces in London stock with red brick detailing, stucco mouldings, sash windows, and small front gardens behind low walls. By the 1970s, much of it had been painted white. Today, a good chunk of that paint is coming back off.
This is what's actually involved.
Why people painted brick in the first place
Three reasons, mostly. First, fashion — white was modern in the 1960s and 70s, and a painted house felt cleaner and more contemporary than a brick one. Second, weatherproofing — masonry paint was sold as a way of stopping water ingress. And third, hiding poor pointing — painting over failed lime mortar was cheaper than repointing it properly.
All three reasons turn out to have been mistakes. Modern masonry paint traps moisture in the brick, which then can't escape. The brick itself starts to spall (lose its face) under the paint. The pointing problem usually gets worse rather than better.
Paint also dates a house in a way that brick doesn't. A clean, repointed Victorian elevation looks the same in 1900 as it does in 2026. A painted one looks like a 1970s renovation no matter when it was done.
What you can't do
Pressure washing. Don't. London stock is soft brick — the surface is a thin, fired skin over a softer body. Pressure washing strips the skin and leaves you with a face that's rougher than when you started, and that absorbs water faster. The brick will then need repointing, possibly replacing, and ultimately sealing — at which point you've spent more than you would have on doing it properly in the first place.
Sandblasting. Same problem, worse. Cleared a brick face in the worst possible way.
Chemical strippers used carelessly. Some products work but need close attention to dwell time and rinse-off. Get it wrong and you'll etch the brick.
What you should do
Use a chemical poultice system. The poultice is a thick gel with a paint-loosening chemical mixed in. It's painted onto the brick, covered with a special paper or membrane, left to act for several hours (sometimes overnight), and then peeled off. The paint comes with it. The brick underneath is mostly untouched.
It's slow. A typical Victorian front takes 3-5 working days for the poultice work alone. It's also relatively expensive — significantly more than a coat of paint, and ten times more than a wash. But the result is what you wanted.
After the poultice work, the brick usually needs minor repointing in lime mortar — not Portland cement — to fix any joints that have failed. We mix lime mortar to suit the wall: the right ratio of lime to sand, the right colour to match the original.
What about the other details?
A Victorian elevation isn't just brick. It's also the architectural detail — the bay windows, the porch, the door, the railings, the path, the wall, the gate. Restoring the brick on its own makes the rest of it look worse by comparison.
The bay windows often need work. Stucco mouldings around the columns may have been painted over and lost their definition. We remake the lost detail using profile moulds — sometimes from surviving sections, sometimes from a neighbour's house if theirs is intact.
Sashes are the next thing to deal with. Most Victorian sashes have been replaced with PVC or, worse, are still there but seized shut and painted into their frames. We refurbish them properly: take them out, repair where rotten, repaint, draught-proof discreetly, rehang on new cords with new weights. They open beautifully and last another hundred years.
Front doors. The original Victorian four-panelled door is often gone, replaced with something flush and ugly from the 70s. We commission new ones to match the original profile, in solid timber, painted in a colour that suits the elevation.
Railings. Original cast iron is rare — most was scrapped during the war. We can have new railings cast from a pattern matching what would have been there, or salvaged from a similar house being demolished. Either way, fitted to the brick piers, not free-standing.
Paths. Encaustic tile in mustard, black, terracotta, blue, white — the standard Victorian palette in the standard geometric layouts. Hand-laid, on a proper substrate, with proper edges.
Walls. Often the wall has either been knocked down for parking, or rebuilt badly in concrete blocks. We rebuild in matching London stocks with proper sandstone or York stone caps.
Cost and timeline
A full front elevation restoration on a typical 5m-wide Victorian terrace is somewhere between £25,000 and £60,000 depending on what's needed. Lower end if it's mostly paint removal and pointing. Higher end if it includes new sashes, new railings, new path, new wall, new door, and stucco repair.
Timeline is typically 6-10 weeks on site, plus any planning consents needed for Conservation Area work.
Is it worth it?
If you own the house and plan to stay, yes. The kerb appeal is significantly improved. The brick lasts longer without paint trapping moisture. The maintenance is lower — properly pointed lime brick needs nothing for 30-50 years. And the value uplift is real, though variable.
If you're flipping the house in 12 months, probably not. The cost is substantial and the buyer may not value it the way you do.