Brickwork, blockwork and repairshandled by a qualified bricklayer,not a jack of all trades.

New walls, whether structural cavity walls on an extension or a freestanding garden wall, start with a foundation sized for the height and loading involved and the ground conditions on site. Cavity walls need correctly spaced wall ties, insulation fitted without gaps or cold bridges, and cavity trays and closers detailed properly around every opening.

Mortar mix and brick or block choice are matched to the exposure of the site: coastal and exposed inland locations across North Devon need a harder-wearing mix and careful attention to movement joints than a sheltered garden wall inland. Coursing and bonding are set out to match existing brickwork where a new wall ties into an old one, so the join doesn't stand out.

Repair work on older properties starts with understanding what the building was built with. Many older Devon cottages and farmhouses use lime mortar and local stone or handmade brick, and repairing them with modern cement-based materials traps moisture and causes the surrounding original fabric to fail faster than if it had been left alone.

Matching an existing wall means sourcing brick or stone of the right size, colour and texture, sometimes reclaimed, sometimes specially matched, and pointing with a mortar mix and finish that matches the original coursing, not just the colour. Cutting out a failed section cleanly without disturbing the surrounding structure takes a steady hand and patience.

Repointing isn't just cosmetic, it's what keeps water out of a wall. Perished, cracked or missing pointing lets moisture into the wall build-up, which on older solid-wall properties can lead to damp and, over time, to the masonry itself breaking down.

The mortar mix has to suit the building: lime mortar for older solid walls that need to breathe, cement-based mixes for modern cavity construction. Getting this wrong in either direction, too hard on an old wall, too soft on a modern one, causes problems rather than solving them.

Chimney stacks take the worst of the weather in an exposed position, and repointing, flaunching (the mortar bed around chimney pots) and brick repairs need to be redone periodically as they weather. We inspect the whole stack, not just the visible pointing, because problems often start with the flaunching or the flashing where the stack meets the roof.

Where a stack has moved, cracked significantly, or is no longer structurally sound at height, a partial or full rebuild is the safer option rather than a repair that won't hold. This is scaffolded and carried out properly, with lead flashings renewed at the same time if they've perished.

Not every crack in a wall is serious, but distinguishing a hairline settlement crack from one caused by ongoing movement or a failing lintel matters before any repair is priced. Where movement is ongoing, we'll say so honestly rather than filling a crack that's going to reopen within a year.

Where a structural engineer's input is needed, on significant cracking, subsidence concerns, or before removing a wall, we bring one in rather than guessing, the same as we would on a new build or extension.