Choose guidance for your area
This guide explains the general brickwork and repointing service. For a property-specific enquiry, choose your town in the coverage section below to see the local service page and its enquiry form. Carter LS is based in Birmingham and manages work carried out by specialist subcontractors across Birmingham, Solihull, Warwickshire and the Black Country.
Match the wall, or make it worse
Brickwork is the one trade where the wrong repair actively damages the house. Strong cement mortar over soft handmade brick, a modern brick toothed into a Victorian bond, joints ground out with a disc and the arrises chipped: the Black Country is full of walls wearing repairs worse than the fault they fixed. Our starting point is always the wall itself. What brick, what bond, what mortar was it built in, and the repair follows from that, whether it is a Victorian terrace in Birmingham or a farmhouse outside Codsall.
We quote the metres that need doing
Repointing is routinely oversold. Whole elevations get quoted when three square metres around a leaking downpipe are the actual problem. We survey the wall joint by joint, and the written quote separates what needs doing now, what will need doing within a few years and what is simply weathered and fine. Plenty of our site visits end with us recommending less work than the customer expected to pay for, which is why the same customers ring us for the bigger jobs later.
The most important decision in repointing happens before the trowel comes out: cement or lime. Hard cement mortar on soft old brick traps moisture and spalls the faces off. We specify the mortar to suit the wall, and we explain why in plain terms.
Get a quote for your projectWhat the work covers
Brickwork, in detail
Repointing
Old mortar raked out by hand to proper depth, joints repointed to match the original profile. No grinding scars, no mortar smeared across brick faces.
Lime mortar work
Pre-war brick across the Black Country was built in lime and should be repaired in lime, so the wall can breathe and move. We use it where the building demands it, not as an upsell.
Brick matching and repairs
Spalled and frost-damaged bricks cut out and replaced with matched reclaimed or new brick, toothed in so the repair disappears.
Structural repairs
Cracked panels stitched with helical bars, failed lintels replaced, bulging sections rebuilt, working to an engineer's specification where movement is live.
New brickwork
Extensions, piers, plinths and boundary work laid to the bond and coursing of the existing building, by the same bricklayers who do our repair work.
Chimneys above the roofline
Chimney masonry repairs can be coordinated with roofing specialists. The quote should distinguish brickwork, flashing and roof-covering work so each responsibility is clear.
How it works
Visit. Price. Build.
We price nothing until we have stood on site and seen the job.
Free site survey
We come out, measure up and listen to what you want from the space. No charge and no pressure to go ahead.
Fixed written quote
An itemised quote in writing. The figure we agree before work starts is the figure on the final invoice.
Build and handover
One point of contact through the job, a site left tidy every evening, and a full walkthrough at handover.
Questions
Questions, answered straight
How much does repointing cost in the UK?
Repointing is priced by area, access and how the old mortar comes out, so a small gable and a whole detached house are very different jobs. Lime work costs more per metre than cement because it is slower and more skilled. We measure the actual wall and quote in writing, and if only part of the elevation needs doing we say so.
How do I know if my house needs repointing?
Look for mortar that has receded well behind the brick face, joints that crumble when touched, or green staining where water tracks down the wall. Failed pointing lets water into the wall and shows up inside as damp patches. If the mortar is weathered but sound, we will tell you it can wait.
How long does repointing last?
Done properly, with the joints raked to depth and the right mortar for the brick, repointing should last several decades. Done badly, with a skim of strong cement over old joints, it can start failing within a few years and take the brick faces with it.
Do I need scaffolding for repointing?
For anything above comfortable ladder height, yes, both for safety and because good pointing needs two steady hands at the joint. Scaffold or tower access appears as its own line in the quote so you can see exactly what it costs.
Do you carry out brickwork repointing in Birmingham?
Yes, Carter LS is based in Birmingham and covers Birmingham, Solihull, Warwickshire and the Black Country for brickwork repairs and repointing, using the same survey, matched-materials approach and written quote described on this page.
Where we work