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Brick repair & brickwork — Wrexham
Brick Repair & Brickwork
in Wrexham
Wrexham is a red-brick town, and much of that brick came from the works at Ruabon, a few miles away. Quirks Property Maintenance Ltd carries out brick repairs throughout Wrexham and its villages — spalled and broken bricks replaced, corners and piers rebuilt, garden walls put back up and old openings bricked in — and takes particular care over the match, because hard, smooth Ruabon red shows a poor match more than most bricks do. Part of our brick repair and brickwork service across North Wales, Cheshire and Wirral.
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In short: brick repairs in Wrexham and the villages — broken and spalled bricks cut out and replaced, corners and piers rebuilt and garden walls put right, with the brick matched as closely as Ruabon red allows.
Local brickwork
Why brickwork fails in Wrexham
Many of the terraces of Rhosddu, Hightown and the streets around the town centre are built in hard, smooth Ruabon red brick, which usually stands up to the weather well. When it does fail, it is usually because water has been held against it — a leaking gutter over a gable, soil or paving raised above the damp-proof course, a chimney or parapet left without a sound capping — or because something has hit it.
The villages are a different picture. Rhos, Brymbo, Coedpoeth and Gwersyllt grew up around collieries, ironworks and brickworks, and their housing is a mix of hard local brick, softer common brick and stone, sometimes in the same street. Softer bricks on an exposed gable can lose their faces to frost. Ground that has been mined can move, too, and that shows as cracking in the wall, not as damage to the bricks — a different fault, covered further down this page.
All of that tells us where to look and nothing more. The repair is decided by what the wall shows, in your photographs first.
Areas of Wrexham we cover
- Wrexham town centre, Hightown and Rhosddu — LL11, LL13
- Acton and Borras — LL12, LL13
- Gwersyllt, Brymbo and Coedpoeth — LL11
- Llay, Gresford, Marford and Rossett — LL12
- Rhos and Ruabon — LL14
- Wrexham Industrial Estate — LL13
We cover the LL11 to LL14 postcode districts and the surrounding villages.
We also cover Flintshire and Deeside, Chester and Ellesmere Port and the Wirral — and everything in between from our base in Ewloe.
WREXHAM — HOUSE
Recent brick repair project
A round vent had been set into the front wall of a house in Wrexham, low down beside a downpipe. We took the vent out and closed the opening in brick, choosing bricks as close as we could find to the ones already in the wall. Damaged bricks at the front of the property were replaced too.
A vent opening in the front wall
The vent was a round, slotted cover fitted into the brickwork of the front elevation, a short way along from the downpipe. Taking it out leaves an opening in the wall, and the repair is to build that opening back up in brick.
The wall is red brick with a mix of reds and oranges in it, so a patch in one flat colour would show. That decided how we went about choosing the bricks.
Closing the opening in brick
The opening was filled with bricks laid in courses with the wall around it. They are the closest match we could find to the existing bricks, picked from the range of colours already in the wall rather than from a single batch.
At this stage the patch is still visibly newer than the brickwork around it, and the joints are darker than the old pointing. It will take time to settle into the wall.
The front elevation with the vent gone
From the front, the vent is gone and the wall reads as continuous brick. The patch beside the downpipe can still be picked out, which is normal for new brick in an older wall.
We bricked up the vent opening and replaced damaged bricks at the front of the property. The photographs here show the filled opening; they do not show the other replaced bricks separately. This case study covers those two repairs only.
- Round wall vent taken out of the front elevation
- Opening bricked up in bricks matched as closely as possible to the existing wall
- Damaged bricks at the front of the property replaced
Project Information
| Issue | A round wall vent in the front elevation, and damaged bricks at the front of the property |
| Service | Brick repair |
| Works | Vent taken out; opening bricked up in closest-match bricks; damaged bricks replaced |
| Property | House |
| Location | Wrexham |
What customers say about our brickwork
Four of the reviews our customers have left on Google.
★★★★★5.0 · 100+ Google reviews★★★★★“Really pleased with the work Quirks Property Maintenance did for me. They replaced two lintels above my windows following a recommendation from my surveyor, stitched the brickwork and repointed everything beautifully. They did a great job and left everything really tidy afterwards. They were also very helpful and kind throughout, and were always happy to explain what they were doing and answer my questions, which I really appreciated. The finished work looks great and I’d definitely recommend them.”
★★★★★“Effective, efficient and friendly service. Quirks carried out installation of a new steel lintel and step crack repair above my front door. They were methodical, explained the process to me at different stages and liaised with building control. They did a really great job!”
★★★★★“Fantastic service and a company we would highly recommend. We used Quirks to resolve a long standing damp problem in our old Victorian house. We have had a new roof, replaced guttering and soil pipes but the wall remained wet. They resolved the problem by repointing the outside wall. The team arrived just after 7 each morning and worked until dark. They cleaned up each day and were always friendly and helpful. We’ll definitely use their services again”
★★★★★“… blocking up an old dryer vent — you genuinely can’t tell where the old vent was, it looks great.”
Brick damage we repair
Most brick damage starts small, and small is when it is easiest to put right. These are the problems we are asked to look at most:
- Spalled or “blown” bricks — the face of the brick flaking, crumbling or coming away
- Bricks cracked, chipped or knocked out by impact — a vehicle, a gate, a fallen branch
- Loose, missing or frost-shattered bricks near the ground, under sills and at the tops of walls
- A corner, a pier or a length of wall that has bulged, dropped or been pushed out of line
- Garden and boundary walls that lean, have lost their coping or have come apart at one end
- Openings that are no longer wanted — an old vent, a doorway, a window, a garage door
If you can see any of these, send a photo on WhatsApp or by email and we will tell you what we think it needs.
The cause
Why bricks fail
Brick is hard-wearing, but it is not waterproof. Nearly every damaged brick we replace has the same history: water got into it, could not get out again, and froze. Ice takes up more room than water, so each hard frost prises a little more of the face away — bricklayers call it spalling. With the fired face gone, the softer inside of the brick takes in water faster still.
What puts the water there is usually one of a short list:
- A leaking gutter, downpipe or overflow soaking the same patch of wall
- Hard cement mortar on an older, softer brick — the joint stays sound, so the water leaves through the brick instead
- Ground levels, paving or soil banked up against the wall
- Missing or failed copings on garden walls, parapets and chimney stacks
- Pressure washing or sandblasting that has taken the fired face off the brick
- Impact — vehicles, gates, scaffolding and storm debris
Replacing the bricks without dealing with the cause only buys time. So the first thing we look for is where the water is coming from. Where we can put that right as well — a gutter, a coping, the pointing — we tell you, and price it in the same quotation.
- Under a leaking gutter or downpipe
- Below window sills
- The first courses above the ground
- Chimney stacks and parapets
- Garden wall tops where the coping has gone
- Corners and gateposts in the path of vehicles
Brick repairs and small brickwork
Single replacement brick with fresh mortar round it in the base course of a wall
Damaged bricks replaced
Spalled, cracked and broken bricks cut out one at a time and replaced in the closest match we can find.
Brick pier at the corner of a front porch, rebuilt in matching brick with a concrete cap, standing on block paving
Failed sections rebuilt
Corners, piers and the brickwork under a sill or over an opening taken down to sound brick and rebuilt.
Red brick garden wall with a blue brick plinth and coping, and brick piers with stone caps along the pavement
Garden and boundary walls
Leaning, cracked and storm-damaged walls repaired or rebuilt, with new copings and piers where they are needed.
Opening in a red brick wall bricked up to sill height and finished with a soldier course, with a sheet covering the space above
Openings bricked up
Old vents, doorways, windows and garage door openings closed in brickwork to match the wall.
The method
How we repair brickwork
- The cause first. We look at why the brick failed — water, frost, the wrong mortar, movement or impact — before we decide what comes out.
- Cut out, not covered up. Damaged bricks are cut out one at a time, so the sound bricks around them stay where they are.
- The closest match. Replacement bricks are chosen for size, colour and texture — reclaimed where a new brick would stand out — and bedded in a mortar that suits the wall.
- Rebuilt where it has to be. Where a corner, a pier or a section has moved or been knocked out, we take it down to sound brickwork and rebuild it, toothed back into the wall on both sides.
- Pointed and left clean. New joints are finished to the profile of the old ones, the wall is brushed down and the waste goes with us.
- Where an exposed wall keeps taking in rain, we can finish the repair with a breathable rain-repellent treatment — one that lets the wall dry out, not a sealer.
Matching
Getting the match right
A brick repair is judged from the pavement. Three things decide whether it disappears into the wall or stands out for years.
- Size. Houses built before metric bricks came in, around 1970, were laid in imperial sizes, and in this part of the country those are usually taller than today’s 65 mm brick. A modern brick in an old wall throws the courses out, so older walls generally need reclaimed or imperial-sized replacements.
- Colour and texture. We take the match from the wall itself, not from a catalogue, and tell you before we start how close we expect to get. New bricks in an old wall rarely look identical on the first day; they tone in as they weather.
- Mortar. Older, softer bricks need a mortar that is weaker than they are, which usually means lime. Strong cement on soft brick is one of the commonest causes of the damage we are called to repair, so we do not repeat it.
Small brickwork
Garden walls, boundary walls and small brickwork
Not every brickwork job is a repair to the house. We also take on the small brickwork that is often hard to find a bricklayer for:
- Garden and boundary walls repaired, part-rebuilt or taken down and rebuilt
- New copings, pier caps and gateposts
- Brick steps
- Openings bricked up to match the wall around them
- Brickwork made good where a vent, a flue or a pipe has been taken out
What we do not do is build extensions or new houses. If the job is a wall, a pier, a set of steps or a repair, send us a photo. If it is an extension, we are not the right firm.
Stonework
Stone walls and stonework
We repair stone as well as brick. Loose, slipped or fallen stone in a house wall or a boundary wall is taken out, re-bedded and pointed in a mortar that suits the stone — lime on older walls. Send a photo of the wall and we will tell you whether it is a repair we take on, and what it involves.
Diagnosis
Is it the brick, the mortar or the wall?
Three different faults get called “the brickwork”, and each needs a different repair.
- The bricks themselves are damaged — faces flaking off, bricks cracked through or missing. That is brick repair, and it is what this page is about.
- The bricks are sound but the joints are open, sandy or crumbling. That is repointing.
- The wall has cracked — in steps along the joints, in a line down the wall, or above a door or window. The cause has to be found first: see wall and brick crack repair, and lintel repair and replacement where the crack starts over an opening.
Chimney stacks have their own page, chimney repairs, and so does damp showing indoors behind damaged brickwork: penetrating damp. If you are not sure which of these you are looking at, send the photo anyway and we will point you to the right repair.
Who it is for
Who we work for
Homeowners
From three blown bricks under a window to a garden wall brought down in a storm, quoted in writing before anything starts.
Landlords and letting agents
Repairs to rented houses and shared boundary walls, arranged with the tenant, with photographs and an invoice for your records.
Commercial and public buildings
Impact damage to units, yards and car parks, and defective brickwork on shops, schools and care homes, with risk assessments and method statements supplied where the site requires them.
Safety
If a wall is dangerous right now
A wall that has been hit by a vehicle, has started to lean or bulge, or is shedding bricks from height is not a job to wait for a quotation. Keep people and cars away from both sides of it, and call the emergency services if anyone is at risk. Our emergency builder service runs a 24-hour call-out for exactly this: propping the wall, taking down what is loose and securing the area, as far as conditions allow. The brickwork repair itself is then quoted in writing.
Your questions
Brick repair FAQs: Wrexham
Can you match Ruabon red brick?
Usually, with reclaimed Ruabon bricks. New bricks rarely have the same density, smoothness and colour, so on the terraces and villas around Wrexham we look for reclaimed bricks of the same size, and say at the outset how near a match to expect.
Do you cover the villages as well as the town?
Yes. Gwersyllt, Llay, Gresford, Marford and Rossett to the north, and Coedpoeth, Brymbo, Rhos and Ruabon to the west and south, are all within the area we cover.
Do I need Building Control involved to brick up an opening in Wrexham?
Wrexham is in Wales, so the Building Regulations as they apply in Wales are the ones that count here. Whether Building Regulations or Building Control involvement is required depends on the scope of work. We will explain the position for your proposed repair and, where agreed, coordinate the process with the relevant parties.
Can you repair brickwork on a rented house or a commercial unit?
Yes. Landlords, letting agents and businesses can all send us a repair, including for units on Wrexham Industrial Estate. Send photographs and the address, and the quotation and invoice go to whoever is responsible for the building.
How much does brick repair cost in Wrexham?
Three things mainly: how much brickwork is involved, how it is reached, and whether reclaimed Ruabon bricks have to be found for it. A section that has to be rebuilt costs more than bricks that can be cut out singly. Most jobs we can price from photographs — send yours on WhatsApp or by email and we’ll come back with a written quotation.
Written and reviewed by Michael Quirk, Director.
Cost
What affects the cost of a brick repair
No two brick repairs cost the same, and a figure published here would be wrong for most of the people reading it. What moves the price is how many bricks have to come out and where they are — at ground level or off a scaffold; how hard the brick is to match, and whether reclaimed bricks have to be found; whether a section has to be taken down and rebuilt; whether the cause has to be put right at the same time; and how much making-good the job leaves behind. No prices are published here because no two walls are the same; the written quotation is the price.
Request a quotation
Tell us what needs repairing and attach a few photographs — one of the whole wall and one close up.
How it works
Send us a photo, we’ll take it from there
You don’t need to describe the problem down the phone. A photo tells us most of what we need.
- 1WhatsApp or email us photos.A couple of pictures of the problem and your postcode.
- 2We reply with what it looks like and what happens next.Where the photos show enough, that’s a price. If not, we’ll tell you what else we need.
- 3You get a written quotation.A clear scope of works, so you know what is included.
- 4We do the work and leave it clean.
Brick repair & brickwork — send us photographs
Worried about your brickwork? Send us a photo.
Send a photo of the damage on WhatsApp or by email, with your postcode, and we will tell you what we think it needs and what happens next. Office 01244 638219.
WhatsApp or email gets the quickest reply. We come back to you as soon as we can.