Full plots taken from footings through to wall plate: substructure, cavity walls, party walls, openings, lintels and gables, all set out and gauged properly the first time. We work for housebuilders and developers on multi-plot sites and for one-off self builds, and the same thing decides both, which is whether the walls go up straight and on programme.
Plots get set out from the drawings and the datum, not from whatever the last trade left behind. Gauge rods made up, courses worked out to suit the openings and the wall plate height, and the first lift checked before it becomes twenty lifts. Getting a plot wrong at DPC costs a week later on.
Engineering brick to DPC, cavity trays and weeps where they belong, insulation held tight to the inner leaf, wall ties at the right centres and staggered properly. Then the superstructure: cavity walls, party walls, lintels bedded on full beds, gables run up and the wall plate left level for the roof.
Plot packages are priced against a programme and then worked to it. If the slab is late or the trusses slip, you get told what that does to the following plots rather than finding out at the next site meeting. Numbers on site go up or down to suit the run of the job.
Cavities kept clean, trays and DPC lapped correctly, ties and closers where the drawings say. It is easier to build it right than to open a wall up for a warranty inspector, which is why the snag lists at the end of our plots tend to be short.
Both. On most developments we price the brick and block package, which is substructure and superstructure from footings to wall plate. On smaller sites and self builds we will take the shell on more or less complete, working alongside the groundworker and the roofer. Tell us where the job starts and finishes and we will price that, rather than something else.
It depends on the programme and the season, and the honest answer is that it changes. We would rather put the right number of bricklayers on a site and keep them there than take on four sites at once and let all four drift. Send the drawings and the programme and we will tell you what we can realistically hold.
Yes. Local work runs out of Watford across Hertfordshire and north west London, but plot packages and larger site work are taken on nationwide. Distance mostly affects how the job is set up rather than whether we do it, so it is worth asking.
Usually the site or the developer, since materials are normally already on a schedule and a call-off. We are happy to price supply and lay where that suits you better, and we will say which of the two is cheaper for your job rather than which is easier for us.
Drawings, a programme and the spec for the facing brick and the blockwork. Elevations and floor plans are enough to get a realistic figure back. If all you have is a plot layout and a rough start date, ring anyway and we will tell you what else we need.
Based in Watford and out across Hertfordshire and north west London most days, so a look at your job is rarely more than a couple of days away. Development and plot packages are taken on nationwide.
Send the drawings or a few photos over and we will price it up.