Unresolved causes
Leaving a defective gutter, sill or lintel in place lets the original problem restart behind new finishes.
Damp proofing & remedial treatment specialists
General Building Worksin Harrow & Surrounding Areas
Damp repairs rarely stop at the damp. We carry out the associated building work: masonry, render, plaster, joinery repairs and making good, so the job finishes with one contractor accountable for all of it.
Free survey and fixed-price quotation · Fixed prices, never day rates · 6-month workmanship guarantee
£0
Survey and written fixed-price quotation
Fixed price
Per job, never a day rate
6 months
Workmanship guarantee on building works
£2m
Public liability insurance held
Service overview
Building work that completes the specialist repair
Damp and water ingress are rarely isolated defects. By the time a wall is wet inside, something else usually needs attention too: mortar joints, render, a lintel, a rainwater pipe, rotten skirting or a floor that has to come up. General building work is how those elements get dealt with in the same programme rather than left for a second contractor to price six weeks later.
The work covers masonry repairs and rebuilding, render and plaster, external repairs to sills, thresholds and rainwater goods, timber repairs and replacement of decayed skirtings and joinery, opening up and making good around specialist works, and the finishing that brings a room back into use.
It suits homeowners who want one point of responsibility, landlords needing a property returned to lettable condition, and buyers working through a schedule of defects from a survey.
It works because the sequencing is under one roof. Specialist treatment, the building work around it and the making good are planned together, so nothing is done in the wrong order, the commonest reason a finished job has to be disturbed again.
Who it is for
Properties where damp or water damage has created a list of associated repairs, and owners who want one contractor responsible for the whole list.
When it is needed
Alongside damp treatment or waterproofing, after water damage, or when a survey has produced a schedule of repairs to work through.
Why it matters
Correct sequencing prevents finished work being disturbed, and one fixed price removes the gaps between trades where responsibility gets lost.
What happens if it is left
What happens when the building work is left out
A technically perfect damp treatment can still look like a failure if the associated building work is skipped. Fresh plaster next to a rotten skirting, a treated wall under a leaking gutter, a repaired room with a cracked sill above it, the problem either returns or the finish looks unfinished.
The other failure is order of works. Decorating before plaster has dried, laying floor finishes before waterproofing is complete, or replacing joinery before the masonry repairs above it, all mean paying twice for the same item.
Decayed timber left in place
Rotten skirtings, thresholds and joist ends put back against new plaster undermine the repair and spread decay.
Work done twice
Finishes installed in the wrong order have to be lifted again, which is the most avoidable cost on any repair job.
Split responsibility
With several contractors on one defect, nobody owns the outcome and every follow-up becomes a negotiation.
Rooms left out of use
A treated but unfinished room is not a usable room. Making good is what returns the space.
The common mistake
Buying the treatment alone on price, then discovering the making good, joinery and external repairs were never included.
Our process
A fixed sequence, so nothing is guessed at
Inspection
Free survey covering the specialist defect and everything around it: masonry, render, rainwater goods, joinery, floors and finishes.
Scope and sequence
We set out what needs doing, in what order, and what can be left alone, then price it as one fixed sum.
Works carried out
Specialist treatment and building work delivered in the planned sequence, with the property protected and areas sheeted throughout.
Making good and verification
Plastering, joinery reinstatement and finishing completed, the work checked against the agreed scope and the area cleaned down.
Completion and guarantee
Balance due on completion. Building works carry a 6-month workmanship guarantee; damp treatment carries the 10-year workmanship and 10-year QANW insurance-backed guarantees.
What you get
The result you are paying for
One contractor, one price
The specialist work and the building work around it sit in a single fixed-price quotation with a single point of responsibility.
Correct sequencing
Work is planned in the right order, so finished elements are not disturbed and nothing is paid for twice.
Rooms returned to use
Making good is part of the job, so the space is usable when we leave rather than waiting on another trade.
Cause and consequence both handled
External defects that caused the damage are corrected in the same visit as the internal repairs.
Clear scope in writing
You can see exactly which items are included, which is what makes a quotation comparable.
Insured and guaranteed
£2,000,000 public liability insurance, with a 6-month workmanship guarantee on building work.
In detail
What the general building work typically covers
This is not a general contracting service competing for new-build extensions. It is the building work that damp, water ingress and remedial projects generate, carried out to a specialist standard.
Masonry and external fabric
Repointing, brick replacement, rebuilding sections of masonry, resetting copings, repairing parapets and chimney brickwork, and helical stitching to cracked walls. These are the elements that most often let water into a building, so they form the bulk of the external work.
Sills, thresholds, string courses and base-of-wall details are corrected so water is thrown clear of the wall rather than run down its face, and render is repaired or renewed where it has debonded and is holding water against the masonry.
Rainwater goods and water management
Split downpipes, sagging or blocked gutters, failed joints and overflowing hoppers put more water into a wall than weather ever will. Clearing, repairing and realigning rainwater goods is often the cheapest part of a damp repair and the most effective.
Where external ground levels have risen above the damp proof course (new paving, added gravel, built-up borders), lowering levels or forming a drainage channel removes the bridge that was causing the damp.
Internal fabric and joinery
Removing and reinstating skirtings, architraves and coving around specialist treatment; replacing timber that has decayed; easing and adjusting doors that have swollen; repairing floorboards and joist ends where moisture has reached them.
Plastering, boarding, taping and skimming follow, to leave walls and ceilings flat and ready for decoration. Where a room needs more than making good, refurbishment and remedial works cover the fit-out side.
Opening up and making good
Specialist work sometimes requires access: lifting floors to reach a wall base, removing a section of ceiling to trace a leak, or taking out a run of units. Opening up and reinstating are priced in from the start, so there is no mid-job conversation about who pays to put it back.
Protection is part of the method: dust sheeting, floor protection, furniture moved or covered, and a clean-down at the end of the works.
How it is priced and guaranteed
Every job is quoted as a fixed price for a defined scope after a free survey. There are no day rates, and no prices are published, because scope varies enormously between properties. Payment is 50% deposit and 50% on completion, by bank transfer.
Building works carry a 6-month workmanship guarantee. Where the project includes damp treatment or structural waterproofing, that element carries the 10-year company workmanship guarantee and the 10-year QANW insurance-backed guarantee.
Carried out across Harrow, Wembley, Pinner, Stanmore, Edgware, Ealing, London, Middlesex, Watford, Buckinghamshire, Slough, Brent, Surrey, High Wycombe, West London, see the full list of areas covered.
Questions
General building, common questions
What kind of building work do you take on?
The building work associated with damp, waterproofing and remedial projects: masonry and repointing, render, plastering, rainwater goods, external details, joinery repairs, opening up and making good, and small refurbishment work.
How much does it cost?
Every job is quoted as a fixed price after a free survey, because scope varies so widely. No day rates and no published prices, the quotation reflects your property and the scope agreed.
How long will the work take?
Small repairs are a matter of days; projects combining external repairs, damp treatment and internal making good run into weeks. Your quotation sets out the programme before you commit.
Is the building work guaranteed?
Building works carry a 6-month workmanship guarantee. Damp treatment and waterproofing carry a 10-year company workmanship guarantee plus a 10-year QANW insurance-backed guarantee.
Are you insured?
Yes: public liability insurance is held to £2,000,000.
How do payments work?
50% deposit and 50% on completion, by bank transfer, against a fixed price agreed in writing beforehand.
Can you work from a surveyor's schedule of defects?
Yes. Bring the report to the survey and we will go through the items, tell you which are genuinely urgent and quote the works we carry out.
Do you handle urgent repairs?
We take calls Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm and Saturday 8am to 1pm, and prioritise active water ingress and anything making a property unsafe or unusable.
Do you do extensions and loft conversions?
Our focus is damp, waterproofing and the remedial and refurbishment work around them. Tell us what you have in mind at the survey and we will be straight about whether it is work we take on.
Which areas do you cover?
London, Middlesex, Watford, Buckinghamshire, Slough, Brent, Surrey, High Wycombe and West London.
Free survey
One survey, one fixed price, one contractor
Tell us everything you have noticed, inside and out. We will survey it free of charge and quote a single fixed price covering the specialist work and the building work around it.
- Free survey, diagnosis and written fixed-price quotation
- 10-year company workmanship guarantee on damp treatment
- 10-year QANW insurance-backed guarantee
- Sovereign & Wykamol approved contractor
- £2,000,000 public liability insurance
Related services
Work that often goes with it
Small refurbishment & remedial works
Treatment stops the damp; remedial work makes the room liveable again. Plaster, joinery, floors, decoration preparation and making good, completed by the contractor that did the specialist work, at a fixed price.
Small refurbishment & remedial works in London & MiddlesexBrickworks & repointing
Open joints and spalled brick faces are the most common route for penetrating damp. We cut out properly, repoint in a mortar matched to your brick, and replace masonry that has broken down.
Brickworks & repointing in London & MiddlesexDamp surveys & diagnosis
Find out exactly what is causing the damp, what it takes to fix it, and what it costs, in writing, at a fixed price, with no charge for the visit and no obligation to proceed.
Damp surveys & diagnosis in London & MiddlesexGeneral building in the areas we cover
General building in HarrowGeneral building in WembleyGeneral building in PinnerGeneral building in StanmoreGeneral building in EdgwareGeneral building in EalingGeneral building in MiddlesexGeneral building in BrentGeneral building in LondonGeneral building in West LondonGeneral building in WatfordGeneral building in SloughGeneral building in BuckinghamshireGeneral building in High WycombeGeneral building in Surrey