St Austell · Cornwall
Brick arch repairs in St Austell
Older St Austell houses often carry their window and door heads on brick arches built without any steel at all. When the centre bricks slip, the arch either needs reinforcing in place or rebuilding over a timber former.
Guide price from£410per arch inc VAT
- Postcodes
- PL25
- Population
- about 24,000
- Area
- Cornwall
- Pricing region
- South West
How do local ground conditions affect brick arch repairs in St Austell?
Postcode districts PL25 cover St Austell, a Cornwall town of about 24,000 people. We also take enquiries from nearby Bodmin (9 miles), Truro (13 miles) and Newquay (14 miles).
Most of Cornwall is on firmer ground than the clay belts of the south-east. Old metal-mine shafts and workings are recorded in places, so mining searches are routine for some properties. Across Cornwall, most homes are granite and slate-stone cottages, cob buildings, Victorian terraces and post-war estates.
What should you budget for brick arch repairs in St Austell?
Guide prices below are for homes in St Austell, on South West rates and including VAT. A survey or good photos let us turn them into a fixed written price.
| Item | Guide price | Per |
|---|---|---|
| Stitching and reinforcing a sound archest. | £410 – £1,250 | per arch |
| Rebuilding an arch (one side) | £925 – £1,350 | per opening |
| Rebuilding an arch (both sides) | £1,850 – £2,700 | per opening |
Repair options we may recommend
Reinforcing a sound arch
Where the arch has only dropped slightly and the bricks are sound, stainless helical bars are bonded into the bed joints just above it, extending well into the wall on each side. The bars turn the courses above into a reinforced band of masonry, so the arch no longer has to carry the full load. Joints are repointed to match.
Best for: Slightly dropped or cracked arches with sound bricks
Lime mortar repairs
On older houses built in soft brick and lime, the arch is rebuilt or repointed in a lime mortar matched to the original. Lime lets moisture escape and moves slightly with the wall, so it protects the bricks rather than forcing damage into them, as hard cement mortar can.
Best for: Pre-1919 houses and soft historic brick
What to expect when we carry out brick arch repairs
Look at the arch closely
Straight-on photos of the arch and the wall either side show us how far it has dropped, whether the bricks are sound and whether the cause seems to be the arch itself or the wall around it.
Choose reinforce or rebuild
We recommend reinforcement where the arch is sound and only slightly displaced, and a rebuild where it has dropped badly or bricks are loose. If the wall beside the opening is moving, that is dealt with first.
Strike the former and point
Once the mortar has cured enough, the former and props are removed. Joints are finished to match the surrounding wall, and any cracks running from the arch into the wall are repaired at the same visit.
Is it time for brick arch repairs? Common signs
- Cracks stepping out from the arch ends into the wall
- Gaps opening between arch bricks at the top or bottom edge
- The centre bricks of an arch sitting lower than the rest
Rules for brick arch 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.
Your brick arch repairs questions
How much will brick arch repairs cost in St Austell?
Guide prices for brick arch repairs in St Austell start from about £410 per arch, including VAT, on South West rates. Your fixed written price follows photos or a survey and depends on the extent of the work and access.
Do you cover St Austell?
We do. St Austell and the surrounding area are covered, including nearby Bodmin and Truro. A free initial assessment from your photos is the first step.
Is the ground in Cornwall prone to subsidence?
Cornwall is mostly granite and slate with little shrinkable clay, so clay subsidence is less common than in the south-east. Historic tin and copper mining has left shafts and workings in places such as Camborne and Redruth, and mining searches are routine there. Only an investigation can say why a particular building has moved.
Why has the middle of my brick arch dropped?
The centre of an arch usually drops because the bricks have lost their wedge, either because the wall at the sides has moved or the mortar has worn away. A rotting timber hidden behind the arch is another common cause. The keystone slipping is the visible result.
What is a former in arch building?
A former, sometimes called a centre, is a temporary timber frame cut to the exact shape of the arch. It supports the bricks while the arch is laid and the mortar cures, and is removed once the arch can carry itself.
Other structural repairs in St Austell
- Boundary and garden wall repairs
- Crack stitching
- Floor joist repairs
- Structural crack repairs
- Subsidence insurance claim repairs
Brick arch repairs near St Austell
Have several dropped arches along one St Austell elevation? We can price them together and suggest the order that makes sense.