Building Services for Repairs, Alterations and Improvements
Building work can range from a relatively small structural repair to a larger project involving several areas of a property.
You may need to alter an internal layout, repair damaged masonry, form a new opening, complete work around an existing extension or coordinate several building improvements as part of one project.
Our team combines building and roofing experience, allowing us to consider how different parts of the property connect. This is particularly useful where work involves walls, roofs, openings, structural elements or external weatherproofing.
We will discuss what you want to achieve, assess the existing property and provide a clear scope for the proposed work.
Spotting Brickwork and Masonry Problems Early
In short: cracked, flaking or bulging brickwork usually points to water getting into the wall, movement in the structure or a failed component such as a lintel or wall tie. Finding that cause matters more than filling the crack, because a repair that ignores it tends to open up again.
Warning signs worth having looked at include:
- Cracks above windows and doors, or a dropped brick arch, which often mean a lintel has corroded, rotted or was never adequate for the opening.
- Stepped cracks following the mortar joints, which can indicate movement in the wall or its foundations.
- Horizontal cracks at regular intervals in a cavity wall, which can be caused by corroding wall ties expanding in the mortar beds.
- Spalling bricks, where the face flakes away after repeated wetting and freezing, often below an overflowing gutter or a failed coping.
- Soft, recessed mortar that lets rain into the wall, usually dealt with by repointing.
Some cracks are old, stable and largely cosmetic. Others need a structural engineer’s assessment before a repair is designed. We will tell you which we think applies, and where a leaking gutter, flashing or chimney stack is soaking the wall, we put that right too.
Approvals and Notices for Building Work
Like-for-like repairs, such as replacing damaged bricks, do not usually need formal approval. Alterations are different. As a general guide:
- Building Regulations apply to most structural work, including removing load-bearing walls, forming new openings, taking out chimney breasts, extensions and loft conversions. Larger roof replacements can be covered too, as our article on when a re-roof needs Building Regulations approval explains.
- Structural calculations from a structural engineer are normally needed wherever loads move onto new beams or supports. Our steelwork and calculations page covers this.
- The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 can apply to work on a shared wall, such as cutting in a beam bearing, and to some excavation close to a neighbour’s building.
- Planning permission mainly concerns changes to the outside of a building. Listed buildings and conservation areas carry extra controls.
When we assess the work, we explain which of these are likely to apply to your project.
