Bricklaying in Oakdale
Garden walls, chimney stacks, bay cracks and brick replacement on the 1930s and post-war houses of Oakdale, priced in writing.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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Bricklaying in Oakdale is mostly repair work on 1930s and post-war houses: front garden walls and piers, chimney stacks, cracked brickwork round bay windows, and small extensions and garden structures. We look, explain what has gone wrong and why, and price it in writing.
Most brickwork problems in Oakdale begin with something you have noticed. A front wall that leans towards the pavement or has a crack stepping through it. A chimney with loose bricks at the top or a pot that has started to tilt. A crack above a bay window that opens a bit more every winter. Or a garden wall that finally came down in a gale.
We come out, look at the brickwork and the ground around it, and tell you whether it is a repair, a partial rebuild or a job to leave alone and watch. The visit and the written quote are both free.
The work
Garden walls, stacks and bays on 1930s brick
Front garden walls and piers. Plenty of the 1930s houses in Oakdale still have a low brick front wall with gate piers, and after ninety years a lot of them lean, crack or have lost their coping.
Often the cause is a shallow footing, a tree root, or a drive widened alongside that undermined one end. We take a leaning section down, check the footing, and rebuild it on a proper foundation with a damp proof course, re-using the old bricks where they are sound so it still matches. A new coping or brick-on-edge top keeps the water out.
Chimneys. Stacks on these Oakdale houses take the worst of the weather. We rebuild the top courses when the bricks have spalled, renew the flaunching round the pots, and fit a cowl or cap to a flue that is no longer used. A stack that is in poor shape all the way down may be better taken down below the roof line, and we will price both so you can compare.
Cracks round the bays. A crack above or below a bay window on a house of this age can come from a corroded steel lintel or a lintel that was never long enough. We open it up, replace the lintel if it has failed, cut out cracked bricks and stitch the joints with helical bars where needed, then match the new brick in so the repair does not show.
Brick replacement. Individual bricks that have spalled from frost are cut out and replaced with a matched reclaimed or new brick in the right size and colour. We lay out a few samples against the wall before ordering.
New brickwork. Garden walls, raised beds, small extensions and garage walls are laid in the right bond to suit the house, with blockwork inner leaves and wall ties where there is a cavity. For repointing on its own, our repointing page for Oakdale covers the detail.
When we would talk you out of it. A hairline crack that has not moved in years is often old settlement and needs no more than pointing. We would rather tell you to watch it than sell you a rebuild.
How it runs
From your call to a written price
One person to ring from the first visit to the last. The quote is itemised, not a figure on the back of a card: access, raking out, the mortar mix, the area of each elevation, any brick replacement and disposal on separate lines, so you can compare it properly against anyone else's.
Nothing on an Oakdale job is left open or unusable overnight. The site is swept at the end of each day rather than the end of the job, and what comes out leaves with us. If something turns up once we start that nobody could have seen, you get a photograph and a price before we carry on.
Repairing brickwork like for like needs no planning permission, and no conservation area covers Oakdale, though Heckford Park adjoins it and the council keeps the list. A front wall higher than one metre next to a road needs permission, and new structural work such as an extension goes through building control.
Cost
What decides the price of a brickwork job
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 quiet Oakdale road, a shared chimney on a 1930s semi, and a boundary wall along a busy main road where the pavement has to be kept open all need very different setting out. 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. A price means little until you know the work behind it.
If something has moved
Loose brickwork, or a wall that has shifted
Ring rather than use the form. Anything overhead or leaning goes to the front of the queue: a chimney with movement in it, a parapet, a garden wall pushed out by roots or a vehicle.
The first visit is about making it safe and stable, and we quote the permanent repair once we can see how far the movement goes. If a front wall or pier is leaning over the pavement, tape it off and keep children and dogs away from it until it has been looked at. Scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. For anything urgent, ring rather than use the form, and if we cannot pick up we ring you back as soon as we can.
Worth knowing
The chimney on a semi belongs to both houses
On most of the 1930s semis in Oakdale the chimney stack sits on the party wall, right on the line between the two houses, with flues from both homes inside it. That makes it a shared structure. You cannot take it down, rebuild it or cut into it on your own without your neighbour's agreement, and work to a party structure comes under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, which usually means serving notice before we start.
So talk to next door early. Often the easiest route is a joint job: rebuild or cap the whole stack on one scaffold and split the cost. If only your side needs work, such as your flue being capped or the flaunching round your pot, it can usually be done without touching theirs, and we will tell you which it is. Taking a chimney breast out inside the house is structural too, and needs building control and proper support for anything left above.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We work on brickwork across Oakdale and BH15, from Fleetsbridge down Wimborne Road towards Poole, and over to Creekmoor, Canford Heath and Parkstone. BCP Council is the planning and building control authority, and our Boscombe base is about six 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 Oakdale, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Oakdale?
Most repairs in Oakdale 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.
| Question | In Oakdale |
|---|---|
| Who decides | BCP Council is the planning authority for Oakdale. BCP Council's heritage pages set out what it controls. |
| Conservation area | None covers Oakdale, so a like-for-like repair is ordinary maintenance. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Oakdale. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Oakdale. |
Questions
Questions about bricklaying in Oakdale
My front wall is leaning. Does it need rebuilding?
If it has moved more than a little, the leaning section usually has to come down and go back on a proper footing. We re-use the sound bricks so it still matches the house.
Can you match my old bricks?
Usually, yes. We look for reclaimed bricks of the right size and colour, or a new brick that is a close match, and lay samples against the wall before ordering.
How long does a chimney rebuild take?
The top section of a stack is often two or three days once the scaffold is up. A full rebuild takes longer.
Is the scaffold included in the price?
Yes, it is a separate line on the quote. A garden wall needs none.
Nearby, and next door
Bricklaying near Oakdale
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Free quote
Get your Oakdale brickwork looked at
Tell us what you have noticed. Thomas comes out, looks at the brickwork and what is causing the problem, and gives you a written itemised price.