Masonry in Nieuwegein

Masonry looks solid, and usually it is. But when something goes wrong, you only see it late: a garden wall that slowly starts to lean, a brick in the facade that crumbles after a hard winter, or a crack that starts above a window and runs a little further every year. If you want to give the facade a different look altogether, see facade cladding.

Building a garden wall

With a garden wall, the most important work is under the ground. The foundation has to be deep enough that frost cannot get under it. If it is too shallow, frozen ground lifts the wall and lets it sink back when it thaws. After a few winters you see that as cracks in the joints.

On top of the wall goes a capping, for example a row of bricks on edge or a coping. It keeps water out of the top of the wall, where it would otherwise soak straight into the brick. If the wall is long, it gets a movement joint at set distances, so it can move without cracking. A wall that has to do more than divide a garden, such as a retaining wall against higher ground, asks for more: the soil pushes against it. If the wall comes with a new garden, it joins up with the work under garden and landscaping.

Replacing bricks in the facade

A brick that flakes or is loose, you take out and replace. The tricky part is the new brick. Bricks differ in size, colour and surface, and a facade that has stood in the rain for forty years has a different colour from the same brick fresh off a pallet. The aim is a brick that comes as close as possible. With an old house, a reclaimed brick is sometimes the best choice.

The mortar counts too: soft, old brick needs a softer mortar. Why that is, is explained under repointing.

Cracks in the facade

With a crack, you first want to know where it comes from. Filling it without knowing often means it comes back.

A common cause sits above windows and doors. There a lintel carries the brickwork. If it is a steel lintel that rusts, the steel expands and pushes the bricks above it upwards. You then see a horizontal crack in the joint just above the frame. The old lintel comes out, a new one goes in, and the brickwork above it is relaid. If the frame is being replaced anyway, that is the moment to include the lintel, as with window frame replacement.

A crack that runs diagonally through the joints like a staircase, or that grows every year, can point to subsidence. Then a structural engineer comes first. Only once the cause has been dealt with does it make sense to repair the crack.

Rebuilding a chimney

A chimney stands above the roof in wind and weather, on every side. That is why it weathers faster than the rest of the facade: the joints wash out, bricks at the top come loose and the capping cracks. If it is bad, the top part is taken down and rebuilt. If you no longer use the chimney, it can also be removed to below the roof and the roof closed up. The join with the roof tiles and the lead flashing around it belongs to roofing.

Masonry and pointing

New masonry is pointed after it is laid, so it matches the rest of the wall. If the brickwork itself is fine but the joints are worn, no bricklaying is needed. Then it is a matter of repointing: the old mortar out and new mortar in.

How to start

Send a few photos of the wall through the contact page, with what you know about its size and location. For a crack, one photo up close and one from a distance helps. An appointment is then made to come and have a look, and after that you get a price. That is possible in Nieuwegein, Utrecht and the places around them.