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Brick repair & brickwork — North Wales, Cheshire and Wirral
Brick Repair & Brickwork
Across North Wales, Cheshire and Wirral
Flaking brick faces, bricks split by frost or knocked out by a car, a garden wall that has started to lean — Quirks Property Maintenance Ltd repairs damaged brickwork across Flintshire, Chester, Wrexham and the Wirral. We look for the cause first, cut out what has failed and rebuild it in the closest match we can find. Small jobs are welcome, and most of them start with a photograph.
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20+years trading
£5 millionpublic liability insurance in place
Workmanship guarantee on completed worksOne contractorAll trades under one roof
In short: we replace damaged and spalled bricks, rebuild failed sections, repair garden and boundary walls and brick up openings — matching the brick and the mortar to the wall, and dealing with what caused the damage where we can.
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.
Where we cover
Chester & Ellesmere Port
Hoole, Handbridge, Boughton, Blacon, Upton, the villages and Ellesmere Port
Flintshire & Deeside
Ewloe, Hawarden, Buckley, Mold, Connah’s Quay, Shotton, Flint and Holywell
Wirral
Birkenhead and Wallasey to Heswall, West Kirby and Hoylake
Wrexham
Wrexham town, Gwersyllt, Rhos, Ruabon, Gresford and the villages
We also cover Denbighshire, Conwy and the North Wales coast — send a photo and your postcode and we will tell you whether we can help.
Recent brickwork
Chester: A detached bungalow where frost had blown the faces off bricks in the plinth, with the worst cut out and replaced in numbered order and some corners and sections rebuilt.
Read the project →
Flintshire: A corner of a house where joints and bricks had cracked and brick faces had broken away, with the damaged bricks replaced.
Read the project →
Heswall, Wirral: The end pier of a sandstone boundary wall, knocked down by a vehicle, rebuilt in its original stone.
Read the project →
Wrexham: A round wall vent taken out of a front elevation and the opening bricked up in the closest-match brick, with damaged bricks at the front replaced.
Read the project →
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.”
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.
Three bricks cut out and replaced, matched to the wall
Size, colour and mortar
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
Can you replace just the damaged bricks?
Yes. Individual bricks are cut out and replaced without taking the wall down — it is the usual repair for a wall that is otherwise sound. A section only has to be rebuilt where the bricks around the damage have moved or lost their bond.
Is flaking, spalled brickwork serious?
It is rarely dangerous at the start, but it does not stop on its own. A few spalled bricks are a small repair. Left for years, the same wall can need a whole section rebuilding, and the damp can start to show indoors.
Do you take on small bricklaying jobs?
Yes. A handful of bricks, a pier, a set of steps, a vent or doorway bricked up, a length of garden wall — small brickwork is a normal part of our week. Send a photo and your postcode and we will tell you what it involves.
Can you brick up a doorway, a window or an old vent?
Yes. The opening is closed in brickwork bonded into the wall on both sides, so it reads as part of the wall and not as a patch. 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 work on a listed building or in a conservation area?
Yes. Consent may be needed before external brickwork is altered — and in a conservation area that can include taking down a boundary wall. That is the council’s decision, not ours, so check with its conservation team before work starts. We then work to whatever is specified, including reclaimed brick and lime mortar where they are asked for.
The wall is shared with my neighbour — can you still repair it?
Yes, but agree it with your neighbour first. Where a garden wall stands on the boundary, both owners usually have a say in it, and for more than a minor repair the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may mean giving them written notice or getting their agreement before it is taken down or rebuilt. That is for the two owners to settle and we do not give legal advice — but we can quote one of you, or both.
Will my insurance pay for a brick repair?
Gradual damage — frost, age, wear and tear — is not usually covered. Sudden damage, such as a vehicle hitting a wall or a storm bringing one down, may be, depending on your policy. We do not advise on insurance, but we can provide photographs and a written quotation for your insurer.
Will repairing the brickwork cure the damp inside?
Only if the damaged brickwork is what is letting the water in. Damp on the inside of a wall has several possible causes, and replacing bricks will not fix one that comes from the ground or from condensation. If damp is showing indoors, tell us when you send the photographs and we will say whether it needs looking at separately.
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.