BasedYate, Bristol Coveringup to 40 miles
hello@bricklayerbristol.co.uk
Alexander A. Britton — Stonemasonry, Brickwork and Groundwork Call or text07915 607362 Get a price →

Bricklayer · Bristol and 40 miles around it

Brickwork that still
looks right in
thirty years.

Walls, extensions, patios and repointing across Bristol, South Gloucestershire and the Bath area. Set out square, laid to the bond the job calls for, and pointed in a mortar that suits the wall.

Get a price → Call 07915 607362
  • Brick, block and stone
  • Householders and contractors
  • Yate based, 40 mile radius
Sawn grey paving and steps rising to an upper terrace between coursed stone retaining walls, with a dry stone wall behind
One of his own: retaining walls, steps and paving
  • 22years on the tools,
    since 2004
  • Bricklayer by tradeTime served, laying since 2004.
  • StonemasonDry stone walling, mullions, heads and sills.
  • GroundworkerDigs, drainage, foundations and oversite, with his own plant.
  • Registered waste carrierSo what comes out of your garden leaves it legally.
  • InsuredPublic liability and employers' liability.

The bond

Five ways to lay the same brick

The bond is the pattern the bricks interlock in, and it decides how a wall carries load and how it looks. Every one below is drawn to scale from a standard 215 × 102.5 × 65 mm brick with a 10 mm joint.

Stretcher bondEvery brick laid long side out, each course lapped half a brick.The common bond for a modern cavity wall — the outer leaf of most houses built since the war.
Flemish bondStretchers and headers alternating along every course.A one-brick wall where both faces show — garden walls, piers, period front elevations.
English bondA whole course of stretchers, then a whole course of headers.The strongest of the traditional bonds. Retaining walls, engineering work, anything carrying load.
Header bondEvery brick laid end out.Curved work and half-brick walls where the curve is tight — bullseyes, radius walls, some Victorian garden walls.
Stack bondNo lap at all — every perpend lined up, course on course.A decorative panel, usually tied or reinforced because the bond does no work. Modern feature walls and infill.

What he lays

Ten kinds of job,
three trades

Each one has its own page — what is involved, what it costs to get wrong, and the questions worth asking before anybody starts.

Brickwork Brickwork Walls, piers, arches and detail work in facing brick, laid to the bond the job calls for. Facing brickPiers & archesAny bond See the work Blockwork Blockwork Inner leaves, foundations and retaining walls in dense or lightweight block, laid level and plumb. Dense & lightweightInner leafRetaining See the work Stonework Stonework Walling, repairs and features, coursed or random — and the masonry proper: dry stone, mullions, heads and sills. Dry stone wallingMullions, heads & sillsLime mortar See the work Patios and paving Patios & paving Patios, paths and edging, set out square and laid to falls so the water goes where it should. Laid to fallsEdgingPaths & steps See the work Extensions Extensions The brick and block shell of an extension, from the footings to the wall plate. Footings to plateCavity workLintels See the work New build New build Plot brickwork for builders and self-builders, by the metre or by the job. Plot workBy the metreTo programme See the work Repointing Repointing Old joints raked out and pointed again in a mortar that suits the wall, not one that damages it. Raked outMatched mortarLime or cement See the work Groundworks Groundworks Digs, drainage, foundations and oversite — his own 360, telehandler and dumper, and a waste carrier licence to take it away. 360, telehandler, dumperDrainage & foundationsWaste carrier See the work Whole projects Whole projects Derelict house to turnkey. Groundwork, shell, trades booked and run, keys handed back. Derelict to turnkeyTrades booked and runOne person to ring See the work Commercial Commercial Site brickwork for contractors and developers, priced by the metre and run to programme. Site workPriced per m²Contractors See the work

Before you ring anyone

How many bricks is that wall?

Measure the face of the wall and this works the rest out — bricks, blocks, courses and the 5% every bricklayer orders over for cuts and breakages. It is the standard arithmetic, not a quote: a square metre of half-brick wall is 60 bricks and a square metre of blockwork is 10.

Bring the numbers with you when you call and the conversation starts in the right place.

Wall face
10.8 m²
Bricks
648
With 5% over
681
Courses
24

Half-brick (single skin) wall. A one-brick wall is double these figures. Openings are not taken off.

The joint

The finish on the mortar is not decoration

It decides whether the wall sheds rain or holds it. Here are the five finishes in section, cut through the joint between two bricks — the shape you are looking at from the side.

Bucket handle

Pressed into a neat concave curve with a jointer.

Compacts the mortar as it is formed, so it sheds water well. The finish on most modern housing.

Weather struck

Angled back at the top so the face overhangs.

Throws rain clear of the joint. Traditional, and the right answer on an exposed elevation.

Flush

Finished level with the face of the brick.

Quiet and even. Suits handmade and reclaimed brick, where a pressed joint would look wrong.

Recessed

Raked back a few millimetres, square in section.

Throws a shadow and shows the brick off. Needs a frost-resistant brick, because it holds water.

Struck

Angled the other way — the top of the joint stands proud.

Internal work and older buildings. Not for weather, since it holds the rain against the brick.

The work

Garden walls to gable ends

All his own: a chimney stack rebuilt, a wall in facing brick, two patios, an access ramp between new stone walls, and a hole in the ground that most people never see the inside of.

A chimney stack rebuilt in red brick above a slate roof, with new pots set on it
A new wall in buff facing brick, laid in stretcher bond and finished square at the return
A sandstone patio laid between raised beds, with a low retaining wall along one side
A patio in mixed-colour riven slate beside a glazed single-storey extension
A concrete access ramp curving between new stone retaining walls
An excavation opened in a lawn and lined with geotextile membrane, ready to take stone

How far

40 miles of Yate

That is the whole of Bristol and South Gloucestershire, and it reaches Bath, Gloucester, Chippenham and the coast. Put your postcode in and it will tell you the distance.

  • Bristol
  • Yate
  • Chipping Sodbury
  • Thornbury
  • Bradley Stoke
  • Filton
  • Keynsham
  • Kingswood
  • Bath
  • Chippenham
  • Gloucester
  • Stroud
  • Weston-super-Mare
  • Cheltenham
  • Trowbridge
  • Clevedon

Asked often

Questions worth asking any bricklayer

If yours is not here, ring and ask it.

How far will you travel?

Up to 40 miles of Bristol. That covers the whole of the city, South Gloucestershire and the Bath area, and reaches Gloucester, Chippenham and Weston-super-Mare. Put your postcode in the checker on this page and it will tell you.

Can you match the brick on my house?

Usually, yes. Brick is matched on size, colour, texture and the bond it was laid in, and on an older house the mortar matters as much as the brick — a modern cement mix beside a soft Victorian brick does damage. Send a photograph of the wall and it is normally obvious what it is.

What is repointing, and does my wall need it?

Repointing is raking the old mortar out of the joints and filling them again. A wall needs it when the joints are soft enough to rake with a screwdriver, are crumbling out, or have been pointed over in hard cement that is now pushing the faces off the bricks.

Which bond will my wall be laid in?

It depends on the job. A half-brick skin is stretcher bond; a one-brick garden wall that shows both faces is usually Flemish; anything carrying load is English. The bond viewer on this page draws each one to scale.

How many bricks will my wall take?

A square metre of half-brick wall is about 60 bricks, and a square metre of blockwork is 10 blocks. The calculator on this page does it from your measurements and adds the usual 5% for cuts and breakages.

Do you work for builders as well as householders?

Yes. Site brickwork for contractors and developers is priced by the metre and run to programme, and plot work for self-builders is taken by the metre or by the job.

Get a price

Tell him what you are having done

A photograph of where it is going and a rough size is usually enough to come back with a sensible figure. He will call you.

Or call 07915 607362

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