Brickwork Contractors Burford

Burford Retaining walls

A retaining wall holds ground back, so it is a structural job rather than a decorative one. Built badly, it leans, cracks and eventually fails, usually after the first wet winter.

What we build in:

• Foundations sized to the retained height and the ground conditions, not to a standard depth
• Free draining backfill behind the wall with a geotextile membrane, so water does not build up behind it
• Weep holes or a land drain to take water away rather than trap it
• The right construction for the height, from a single skin garden wall up to reinforced or engineered walls
• Structural engineer involvement where the retained height calls for it

We will tell you at survey which of those your site actually needs, and where a wall would be the wrong answer compared with terracing or a sleeper build.

Choosing brick, stone and finish

Materials

• Facing brick: The usual choice for garden and boundary walls, matched to the house where possible.
• Engineering brick: Dense and frost resistant, used below damp course level and where a wall takes a beating.
• Reclaimed brick: For older properties where new brick would look wrong.
• Natural and reconstituted stone: Traditional walling in stone areas, or as a feature against brick.
• Rendered block: Contemporary, cost effective and easy to paint or finish.

Coping and caps: The cap is what keeps water out of the top of a wall and is the main reason cheaply built walls fail. We finish in flat or twice weathered coping, saddleback, brick on edge or stone tabling to suit the wall and the property.

Pointing and mortar: Flush, bucket handle, weather struck or recessed, with mortar colour matched to the existing brickwork. On older and listed properties we use lime mortar rather than cement, which lets the wall breathe instead of trapping moisture in the brick.

How we build a wall

Worth checking any quote you receive against this.

• Foundation: Trench dug to suit the wall height and ground conditions, with a concrete footing sized accordingly. Most failures start here.
• Damp proof course: Where the wall meets the ground or abuts the property.
• Coursing: Laid to line and level in the chosen bond, with piers at appropriate intervals on longer or taller runs.
• Movement joints: On longer walls so thermal movement does not crack the brickwork.
• Ties and returns: Where the wall connects to an existing structure.
• Coping: Bedded and pointed to shed water clear of the face.
• Pointing and clean down: Finished to your chosen joint profile, faces cleaned, site cleared and waste taken away.

How much does Brickwork Cost in Burford

No two walls are the same, so we survey before we price. What moves the figure:

• Length and height: Height affects it more than length, because it changes the foundation and whether piers are needed.
• Whether it retains ground: A retaining wall needs a larger foundation, drainage and often a heavier build.
• Ground conditions: Soft or made up ground means a deeper footing.
• The brick or stone: Reclaimed and natural stone sit well above standard facing brick.
• Access: Everything through a side gate by barrow costs more than a drive a machine can reach.
• Removing what is there: Demolishing and disposing of an old wall or fence adds to the job.
• Extras: Coping, gate pillars, lighting, ducting, steps and railings sit outside the wall itself.