Bricklaying in Mudeford

Garden and boundary walls. Most garden walls in Mudeford are a single brick thick, on a shallow footing, with a coping on top. When one leans or bows, the cause is usually roots, a footing that was never deep enough, or a wall holding back more soil than it was built for.

A short section that has gone out of line is taken down, the bricks are cleaned, and it is rebuilt on a proper concrete footing with the new courses tied back to the old. A retaining wall gets a thicker build and drainage behind it.

Piers and copings. A gate pier takes the swing of a gate and the knock of the odd car. We rebuild a cracked pier around a new core where needed, and replace blown copings with a brick on edge or a coping stone bedded on a damp proof course, so water stops soaking down into the wall.

Porches, extensions and new walls. A porch on a Mudeford bungalow or a small extension is cavity work: blockwork inner leaf, facing brick outside, wall ties across the cavity, a lintel over each opening, a cavity tray where it meets the house and a DPC at the right height. We match the bond and the brick to the house, and building control applies.

Cracks and cut out repairs. Spalling bricks, where the face has broken away, are cut out one at a time and replaced with a matching or reclaimed brick. A stepped crack in the brickwork is investigated before anything is filled, because the cause matters more than the crack.

Chimneys. A chimney that has lost its flaunching, or has bricks shaling off near the top, is rebuilt from the roof line on a scaffold, with the lead flashing redone in the same visit.

Matching. New brick next to old never looks right on day one. We bring samples to the house, and on a long wall we build a small trial panel so you can see the colour and the mortar joint before the rest goes up.

When we would talk you out of it. A wall with worn joints and sound bricks needs repointing, not rebuilding. We say so.

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 low front wall on a Mudeford open plan close, a long side wall behind a hedge, and a wall on a busy road where the pavement has to be kept safe all take different set up. 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. Set the answers side by side before you set the prices side by side.

We build and repair brickwork across Mudeford and BH23, from the quay and Avon Beach to Friars Cliff, Highcliffe, Stanpit and Christchurch. BCP Council is the planning and building control authority, and our base in Boscombe is about four miles 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 Mudeford, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Mudeford 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.