Brick restoration
in London,
done to last.
Cleaning, replacing damaged bricks, crack stitching, tinting and lime repointing, for period homes, conservation areas and commercial frontages. The aim is brickwork that looks right and keeps the weather out, not a patchwork of repairs. Brickwork is led by a bricklayer with more than 30 years' experience, used to running both small crews and large teams.
Crumbling, flaking
or stained brickwork?
The signs are usually visible from the street: flaking or crumbling brick faces, mortar falling out, stepped cracks, salt staining, soot or algae, or a patchwork of earlier repairs in the wrong brick and grey cement.
Clean the brick,
not the face off it.
London brick collects decades of soot, traffic grime, algae, old paint and graffiti. The wrong cleaning method does more damage than the dirt: sandblasting and high pressure washing strip the fired face off the brick, which then soaks up water and starts to crumble.
Spalled bricks
cut out and replaced.
Spalling is when the face of a brick flakes or pops off, usually because water has got in and frozen, or because hard cement mortar has forced moisture to leave through the brick instead of the joint.
Cracks repaired
without rebuilding.
Many cracks in brickwork are from old, finished movement and do not need a rebuild. Crack stitching bonds stainless steel helical bars into the mortar joints across the crack, tying the wall back together, and the joints are then repointed to match.
Where a crack is still moving, or a wall is leaning or bulging, stitching alone is not the answer. We will say so and quote the right repair, which may be a rebuild or new lintels.
New work that
blends in.
Even well matched reclaimed bricks and new mortar can stand out at first. Brick tinting uses mineral tints to bring replaced bricks, patched areas and new mortar into line with the surrounding wall, so the repair disappears rather than drawing the eye.
On older buildings we repoint in lime mortar matched to the original in colour and texture. Lime lets the wall breathe and is softer than the brick, so the joint takes the weathering instead of the brick face.
Period houses,
shops and blocks.
For homeowners this is usually a front elevation, a chimney or a garden wall on a Victorian or Edwardian house, often in a conservation area where the finish matters.
Listed buildings need consent for work that affects their character, and conservation areas have their own rules. Where that applies we tell you before work starts and work to what the conservation officer requires. We cover all of London, with bricklayers working across south London and east London.
Paint, render
and pebbledash removal.
Many London fronts were painted or rendered decades ago. Removing the coating can bring the original facing back, but it has to be tested first, because the brick underneath may already be damaged.
Masonry paint
Paint is lifted with strippers matched to the coating and washed off at low pressure. A trial area shows how cleanly it comes away and what the brick looks like underneath before the whole elevation is committed to.
Render and pebbledash
Render is cut back carefully so the brick faces are not chipped. Where the brick behind is patched or spalled, we price the repairs before you decide whether to restore or re-render. For cracked render you want to keep, see render and wall tie repair.
How a restoration
job runs.
1. Inspection
We look at the brick, the mortar, the coatings and the cause of any damage, from the ground or from photos for smaller jobs.
2. Written quote and trial panel
A fixed written quote sets out each repair. Where cleaning or tinting is involved, a small trial area is done first for your approval.
3. Access and protection
Scaffold or towers are put up, windows, doors and paving are protected, and pavements are kept safe.
4. Restoration and handover
Cleaning, brick replacement, stitching, repointing and tinting are carried out in the right order, then the elevation is checked with you before the scaffold comes down.
Questions we get
asked most.
Get a written
price.
Monday to Saturday 9am to 8pm, Sunday 9am to 3pm. All London boroughs.
Message us on WhatsAppSend photos of the brickwork and the postcode and we will tell you what it needs.
Often needed
alongside this.
Areas we cover.
We take brick restoration across all 32 London boroughs. Most of our work is in west London, in Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington, Chiswick and White City, and in south west London, in Putney, Wandsworth and Wimbledon. We also work in south east London, in Greenwich, Blackheath and Lewisham.
If your property is outside these areas, call us anyway. We travel across London and will tell you honestly if a job is too far to price properly.