Bricklaying in Branksome

Garden and front boundary walls. Many of the older houses have brick front walls with a coping or a brick on edge along the top, and piers at the gate.

When a wall has bowed or cracked right through, we take it down to sound brickwork, or to the footing if the footing has moved, and rebuild it in the same bond. Sound bricks are cleaned and re-used. A short front wall is often two or three days, with a proper coping and a damp proof course so it does not fail the same way.

Matching the brick. The Edwardian brick in Branksome is not the same as the harder, more even brick on the post-war houses, and neither matches a new standard brick off a lorry. We find a reclaimed or handmade match for size, colour and texture, and where the wall shows from the road we build a small sample panel first. If it is the joints that have gone and the bricks are fine, that is repointing in Branksome, a different and cheaper job.

Chimney stacks. A stack takes more weather than any other brickwork on a Branksome house. Cracked flaunching lets water down the flue, and loose bricks at the top mean it needs taking down to sound work and rebuilding, with the pots re-bedded and the lead flashings at the roof put back. That is scaffold work. If you no longer use the fireplace, taking the stack down below the roofline is worth pricing as well.

Extensions and porches. New work goes up in cavity construction: a brick outer leaf in stretcher bond, blockwork inside, stainless wall ties across the cavity, a DPC, and a lintel over each opening, all on a footing sized for the ground. Where the new wall meets the old house we tooth it in or tie it with a profile, and match the courses so the joint lines run through. Next to a neighbour, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may apply, and it is better known at the start.

Blocks and shared walls. The walls around the post-war blocks in Branksome, bin stores, car park walls and steps, belong to the building, so the managing agent instructs the work. We price them so the agent can see each wall on its own line.

When we would talk you out of it. A hairline crack in an old wall that has not moved in years does not need a rebuild. We will say so, and suggest keeping an eye on it instead.

No rate per square metre, because the metre of wall tells you almost nothing until you know what the joints are like.

Getting to it. A front wall on the pavement near County Gates, a chimney stack on a detached Edwardian house, and a car park wall at a block off Poole Road are three very different set ups. A chimney or a gable wants a scaffold, a garden wall wants nothing. How long the platform stands matters as much as its size, and the work at height rules are why it is a priced line rather than an optional extra.

The joints, not the wall. Raking out by hand is slow and is the only safe way on soft old brick. How deep the joints have to come out, and whether the brick faces have already spalled, decides the hours more than the area does.

The mix, and matching. Matching an existing mortar for colour, texture and strength takes trial panels. Matching a brick means sourcing it. Neither is a line most quotes make visible, and both are why two prices for the same wall can be so far apart.

Comparing quotes? Ask how deep the joints are being raked and by hand or by disc, what the mortar mix is and whether it has been matched, how many bricks are being replaced, and whether the scaffold is included. Matching prices can hide very different jobs.

We cover Branksome and BH12, from County Gates and Brunstead Road along Poole Road past the station and up to Alder Road, and next door into Westbourne and Parkstone. BCP Council handles planning and building control, and our base in Boscombe is a short drive away.

You are dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building, the trading name of Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, which you can look up in a minute. Thomas Hannen's business, and he is the one who comes out to price the job, not a salesman. A verified customer's 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit and the written quote are both free. Before you book a visit in Branksome, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Branksome need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.