Cracked walls, failing lintels and subsidence put right by a family-run Brighton builder, working to your structural engineer’s design.
County Structures carries out structural repairs in Brighton and Hove, such as underpinning, crack stitching, wall tie replacement and new lintels. We’re a small family-run firm, and we’ve been in the building trade for more than 35 years.
Grant leads each job himself, so the person who looks at your cracks is the person running the repair. We work with the same structural engineers again and again, and we build to their design.
Some cracking is normal. Houses move a little with the seasons, and fine cracks in plaster are rarely a worry. Get a proper look if you notice any of these:
A crack wider than about 5mm, or one that keeps growing, needs checking soon. Grant will tell you honestly if yours needs a visit.
Subsidence happens when the ground under a foundation shrinks, washes away or gives way. Common causes are leaking drains, nearby trees and shallow Victorian footings. The cause has to be fixed first, or the new work won’t last.
Underpinning then takes the foundation down to firmer ground. We dig and pour it one bay at a time, so the wall is never left without support. The engineer sets the depth, the order of the bays and the concrete mix.
Underpinning needs building regulations approval. If you dig within 3 metres of a neighbour’s building and deeper than its foundations, the Party Wall Act applies too, and your neighbour must get at least one month’s notice.
Lintels. Plenty of Victorian and Edwardian houses still have timber lintels hidden behind the brickwork, and these rot. Early steel ones rust and split the bricks around them. We prop the opening, take the old lintel out and fit a new steel or concrete one.
Bowing walls. A bowing wall has usually lost its grip on the floors or roof. We fit lateral restraint straps or ties to pull it back into the structure. If it has moved too far, that section is taken down and rebuilt.
Chimney breast removal. The chimney left above must be supported, usually on a steel beam, and building control must approve it. In a terrace the breast normally sits on the party wall, so your neighbour needs notice under the Party Wall Act.
Worried about a crack?
Send Grant a photo on 07885 325954 or call the office on 01273 950800.
Much of it comes down to how the houses were built. Many older Brighton homes have bungaroosh walls, a local mix of flint, broken brick and lime. It stands up well behind sound render. Leave it soaking for years, though, and the lime washes out and the wall can crumble.
Flint and bungaroosh often need a different repair from plain brick, so we find out what a wall is made of before we cut into it. Hard cement patches can trap damp in old lime walls and make things worse.
Near the seafront, salt air and wind-driven rain wear walls and wall ties faster. We choose repair materials with that in mind.
Every job is different, so we can’t give a real price without seeing it. As a rough guide, published figures for the South East put crack stitching at about £60 to £120 per bar, or from around £800 for a typical crack. Wall tie replacement on a typical house is often quoted at roughly £1,200 to £2,600, and a new lintel from around £600 per opening.
Underpinning and steel beams depend too much on the engineer’s design and access for a sensible guide. Engineer’s fees and building control charges are extra. After a free site visit we give you a written quote.
For a single lintel or a small crack, often not. For subsidence, bowing walls, underpinning or removing a load-bearing wall, yes, because building control will want calculations. We’re builders, and we build to the engineer’s design. If you don’t have one, we can put you in touch with engineers we’ve used for years.
Properly designed, signed-off repairs usually help a sale. Buyers’ surveyors and lenders want to see the engineer’s report and the building control completion certificate, so keep both with your house papers.
Yes. We’ve converted an 1850s listed building in Brighton into four apartments, so we’re used to treating old fabric with care. Structural work to a listed building usually needs listed building consent from Brighton & Hove City Council first.
We carry out structural repairs all over the city, including Kemptown, Hanover, Preston Park, Seven Dials, Fiveways, Patcham, Withdean, Rottingdean, Saltdean and Portslade, as well as Shoreham and Lewes. Our office is at Stanford Gate, South Road, Brighton BN1 6SB. Call Grant on 07885 325954 or the office on 01273 950800.
Steel Beams & RSJs · Crack Stitching · Wall Tie Replacement · Brickwork · Repointing · Design and Build
Call Grant on 07885 325954 or the office on 01273 950800. We will come out, look at the job and give you a free, no-obligation quote.
I can confirm that Grant has worked for me on two projects. The first project was to build two semi-detached houses in Hove. The second project was to convert an 1850s listed building in Brighton into four top-end apartments.
Grant is a very practical builder and gets on well with people, particularly neighbours, helping projects run smoothly. He works to a high standard and, should you decide to have him work for you, will leave you with a feeling that you would willingly use him again.
Grant and his team carried out our flat conversion (converting the top two floors of our Victorian house to two self contained flats) last year.
For our works they started on the agreed date and finished within days of the predicted finish date. For us the work was all to a very good standard and we have been very pleased with the finished job.
The team were friendly and approachable, happy to change or add little things as the conversion evolved. Grant and John were always at the end of the phone if needed. I would not hesitate to recommend them and if I need further construction works carried out would look to them first.
Tell us a little about your project and we will call you back. If you have drawings or photos, mention it and we can arrange a site visit.
County Structures Ltd
Stanford Gate
2nd Floor, South Road
Brighton
BN1 6SB
