Boundary and garden wall repairs in Kent

Area: Kent
Pricing region: South East
Ground: Shrinkable clay widespread
Towns listed: 22

What should you know about the ground under Kent?

Parts of Kent lie on a former coalfield, so a coal mining search is worth checking if movement has no obvious cause. What you mostly find across Kent: Victorian terraces in the Medway towns, weatherboarded and Wealden houses, 1930s semis and seaside bungalows.

What to look for before calling about boundary and garden wall repairs

Vertical cracks at regular intervals along a long run of wall
Crumbling mortar, or bricks with faces flaking away
Wall leaning towards the pavement, drive or neighbour’s garden
Coping stones or brick-on-edge tops loose, cracked or missing

Boundary and garden wall repairs prices in Kent

For Kent we use South East rates. Treat the table as a budget guide, inc VAT; the price you pay is the one on your written quote.

Guide prices inc VAT on South East rates. Items marked est. are our estimates.
Item	Guide price	Per
Repointing and minor repairsest.	£335 – £1,350	per wall
Rebuilding a leaning sectionest.	£170 – £390	per m² of wall face
New brick piersest.	£280 – £670	per pier

How we usually approach boundary and garden wall repairs

Repointing and minor repairs

Weak mortar is raked out and the wall repointed in a mortar that suits the bricks, and damaged bricks are replaced with matching ones. Loose copings are rebedded or replaced with a design that throws water clear of both faces. This is often enough for an upright wall.

Best for: Upright walls with weathered joints, loose copings or spalled bricks

New piers and movement joints

Brick piers are built at intervals along the wall, bonded in or tied with stainless fixings, to stiffen it against wind and lean. Vertical movement joints are cut where a long run keeps cracking. Gate piers are rebuilt larger and on deeper footings where they carry heavy gates.

Best for: Long walls with regular cracks, or weak gate piers

Rebuilding a leaning section

The leaning or badly cracked section is taken down, sound bricks cleaned for reuse, and the wall rebuilt on a new footing at a suitable depth. A damp-proof course and a proper coping are added, and the new work is jointed to the sound wall either side.

Best for: Sections that lean, rock or have cracked right through

What happens during boundary and garden wall repairs, step by step?

Photos and ownership
Send photos of the whole wall and close-ups of cracks, the lean and the coping, plus any nearby trees. Tell us whether the wall is yours, shared or your neighbour’s, as that affects who can instruct the work.
Site assessment
On site we check the lean with a level, look at the footing where it can be seen, note the bricks and mortar, and check for trees, soil loading and gate loads. If the wall turns out to be retaining soil, we treat it as a retaining wall.
Repair and rebuild
Sections are taken down, footings dug, and the wall rebuilt or repointed with a damp-proof course and coping. Reclaimed or matched bricks keep the wall consistent, and spoil and old materials are removed at the end.

Boundary wall: leaning section rebuilt on a footing with brick piers. Indicative drawing, not to scale.

Do you need approval for boundary and garden wall repairs in England?

Like-for-like repairs such as crack stitching and repointing do not usually need building control approval in England, but anything that changes or strengthens the structure, such as underpinning or rebuilding a wall, does. If the work touches a party wall, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may apply.

Towns in Kent we cover for boundary and garden wall repairs

Questions about boundary and garden wall repairs in Kent

Is the ground in Kent prone to subsidence?

North Kent sits on London Clay, central Kent on Gault and Weald Clays and the Downs on chalk, so shrinkable clay is widespread. East Kent around Deal and Dover had a small deep coalfield, worked until the late 1980s. Parts of Kent lie on a former coalfield, so a coal mining search is worth checking if movement has no obvious cause. Only an investigation on site can say why a particular building has moved.

How much will boundary and garden wall repairs cost in Kent?

On South East rates, boundary and garden wall repairs starts from about £335 per wall, including VAT. The written price depends on the extent of the damage, access and whether an engineer or building control is needed.

Do I need permission to rebuild a front wall?

Usually not for a like-for-like rebuild. Building a front wall next to a road higher than the permitted height, or work in a conservation area or to a listed building, can need planning consent. Check with your council before changing a wall’s height or appearance.

Is a leaning garden wall dangerous?

It can be, particularly a tall wall, a front wall by a pavement or one that moves when pushed. A slight lean that has not changed for years may be stable, but a wall leaning more each year should be kept clear and repaired before a storm finds it.

Does home insurance cover a fallen garden wall?

Sometimes, but many policies exclude garden walls or cover them only for certain events, such as vehicle impact or storm. Frost, wear and tree root damage are usually excluded. If a vehicle caused the damage, the driver’s insurer may pay. Check your policy and tell your insurer before permanent repairs start.