Brick, stone and flint repairs in Kent

Kent's traditional walling materials

Kent's older buildings use a wide range of materials: soft handmade red bricks and yellow stocks, Kentish ragstone around Maidstone and the Medway valley, knapped and cobble flint across the chalk and along the coast, and Tudor brickwork with patterned headers on larger houses. Each behaves differently and needs its own repair approach and matching materials. Tell anyone quoting what your walls are made of, and send close-up and wider photos, so they can judge the work and check whether they can source suitable bricks or stone.

Repairing rather than rebuilding

Where individual bricks have lost their faces, a specialist may cut them out and replace them with reclaimed or new handmade bricks of a matching size, colour and texture, or turn them round if the back is sound. Loose flints can be reset in lime, and decayed ragstone can be dressed back or replaced with new stone of a similar type. Rebuilding whole sections should be a last resort, as it loses original material. Ask why any wall needs taking down, and what will be reused.

Cracks, chimneys and finding the cause

Before repairing a crack, find out why it formed. In older buildings, movement can come from shallow foundations, tree roots, leaking drains, rusting iron cramps or lintels, or a wall bulging away from the floors. Many old cracks stopped moving long ago. If a crack is widening or a wall is leaning, a structural engineer with experience of historic buildings can advise. Chimney stacks take the worst of the weather, so check the pots, flaunching and pointing. Rebuilding or removing a stack on a listed building will usually need consent.

Jobs we can find a restoration specialist for

Brick matching and replacement
Flint wall repairs and resetting
Kentish ragstone repairs
Chimney stack repairs
Crack stitching and wall ties
Flint and brick boundary walls

Get a quote for brick, stone and flint repairs

Available across Kent

Dartford Gravesend Medway Maidstone Sevenoaks Tonbridge & Tunbridge Wells Ashford Canterbury Thanet Folkestone & Hythe Dover & Deal Swale

Other services

Sash window restoration and draught-proofing · Lime pointing, lime render and lime plaster · Timber frame and weatherboarding repairs · Period joinery, doors and staircases · Listed building works and consents

Brick, stone and flint repairs: common questions

Where do matching old bricks come from?

Specialists use reclamation yards, handmade brick makers or bricks saved from elsewhere on the building. Size, colour and texture all matter, so ask to see samples before work starts.

Should I worry about a crack in my old wall?

Not every crack is serious, and many old buildings moved years ago and then settled. If a crack is new, widening or letting in water, ask a specialist or a structural engineer with historic building experience to look at it.

Do I need consent to repair an old flint boundary wall?

If the wall is part of a listed building or within its grounds, it may be protected, and works affecting it could need consent. In conservation areas, demolishing some walls needs permission too. Check with your council.