I purchased a new build property a few months ago. I've just noticed that there is some mortar completely missing from one of the vertical joins on a brick, which caused me to look closely at the rest of the building. There are several smaller holes, of varying depths, where it's clear that mortar has never been present and there are also sections in the mortar where it changes from smooth and level to being recessed and rough. My initial thought was just that the job had been rushed and poorly completed.
I'm becoming concerned that there may also be a problem with the strength of the mortar. There are signs that some pieces of mortar have fallen out. This is particularly noticeable near the corners of the building, where there are small chunks of mortar on the ground. I was taking pictures yesterday to send to the builder. In the evening there was a loud crack/pop noise from the rear corner in the living room. Today there's a small chunk of mortar on the path next to that corner, which I know wasn't there when I took the pictures. In places, the surface of the mortar brushes off as loose sand just from running my finger over the surface however, this is also true on the bottom layers where the mortar is distinctly darker and grey in colour, suggesting that more cement was used in that mix, so I'm not sure if this is to be expected and I'm worrying over nothing.
I'm looking for advice on how to best approach this. The brickwork is less than a year old so there's no signs of major weathering in the mortar. I don't want the builder to just fill in the holes only to discover further down the line that my concerns on the strength were justified, once it's out of their warranty. Would a professional snagging survey highlight if this is an issue or should I get the mortar tested? The property is attached, so should I inform my neighbours of concerns?
