Brickwork & blockwork contractor Essex & London Commercial & domestic. Free estimates

Based in Essex

Scaffold down.

Brickwork is only seen properly when the scaffold comes down. We lay it to be looked at: new builds, extensions and boundary walls, from footings to wall plate.

Call Jake 07849 407330 Ask for a free estimate

Close-up of orange-red facing brick beside a white window frame, with sand-coloured mortar joints — **Fig. 1** Facing brick at Upminster, Essex.

No. 01The firm

Reliable brickwork, laid to a high standard and on time.

A gloved hand pointing the mortar joints of a London stock brick wall, with a scaffold pole in front — **Fig. 2** Pointing the London stocks by hand, Farringdon.

J.A.E Brickwork Ltd is a specialist brickwork and blockwork contractor based in Essex. Builders, developers and homeowners call us for new-build packages, extensions, and garden and boundary walls.

Most jobs run from footings to wall plate. When the scaffold finally comes down, the brickwork is the first thing anyone sees.

Based: Essex
Working: Essex and London
Taking on: Commercial and domestic
Estimates: Free
On record: Work shown since June 2017
Right now: Tendering for masonry projects

Red brick and blockwork walls of a bungalow behind scaffolding, with roof trusses in place — **Fig. 3** Great Baddow, Chelmsford. Brickwork and blockwork complete on a bungalow, roof trusses on, scaffold still up.

No. 02Work

Four jobs, scaffold up and scaffold down.

Farringdon, London

Two more storeys on an 1865 building.

A five-storey brick building from 1865, once part of the original Metropolitan tube system and used for its administration. It sits in a conservation area. The plan: a concrete ring beam at fourth-floor level, a steel frame above, and two new storeys in brick.

We took on the brickwork package.

Scope: Two additional floors and a parapet
Front: Keeps the existing detail: two types of brick, stone pillars, soldier arches over the windows
Rear: Plain London yellow stocks

A building between two red-brick Victorian buildings, wrapped in white sheeting and scaffold, on a London street — **Fig. 4** Sheeted, on the street side.

Rear elevation in London yellow stock brick with white sash windows, seen from below against a blue sky — **Fig. 5** London yellow stocks, scaffold down.

New red-brick front elevation with two white windows and a black tarpaulin over the ground-floor opening — **Fig. 6** Brickwork done. September 2024.

The same red-brick front with the glazed shopfront fitted — **Fig. 7** The same view, shopfront fitted.

Bexleyheath

A restaurant below, four apartments above.

A new build in Bexleyheath town centre. The first phase came out of scaffold in September 2024, with the rear extension to follow.

Same spot on the pavement, two photographs: the brickwork finished, then the shopfront in.

Yellow stock brick extension to a London terrace with the openings formed and scaffold above — **Fig. 8** Wanstead. Reclaimed yellow stocks going up.

Wanstead, London

Reclaimed stocks, to match the street.

Our masonry package at Wanstead used reclaimed stock bricks and weather struck pointing, chosen to keep the early twentieth-century character of the houses around it.

On one job we repointed the house in weather struck as well, so old and new read as one.

A new red-brick detached house on a cleared building plot, seen past the corner of a brick pier — **Fig. 9** Chadwell St Mary. The detached house of four, brickwork complete.

Chadwell St Mary, Thurrock

Four houses, one development.

Three terraced houses and a detached house, built as a development of four. The brickwork is complete on all four, to the programme.

Behind the face there are weep vents to drain the cavity, and movement joints on the longer runs to stop cracking.

“Clean lines, sharp details and a finish we’re seriously happy with.” J.A.E Brickwork, on Chadwell

No. 03Craft

What you’re looking at when the scaffold comes down.

Six details that decide how a wall reads from across the road, and from six inches away.

Corner of a freshly built wall in mixed reclaimed yellow stock bricks with sloping mortar joints — **Fig. 10** Reclaimed yellow stocks, weather struck pointing.

Weather struck

adj., of pointing

A joint struck at a slant, set back at the top and proud at the bottom, so rain runs off the face. The classic finish for reclaimed London stocks.

Also on Wanstead, reclaimed stocks

Birds beak

n., a pointing profile

A small, crisp ridge cut along the middle of the joint. It throws a fine shadow line under every course, so a brick with some colour in it reads clearly from across the road.

Seen on The job of 2022

Pink-red facing brick wall with crisp birds beak pointing and a trowel lying on a scaffold board — **Fig. 11** Birds beak pointing on facing brick.

Raked

adj., of joints

Mortar raked back from the face, so each brick stands slightly proud and every joint sits in shadow.

Brick on edge

n., a bonding detail

Bricks stood on their long narrow side instead of laid flat. It makes a firm, clean cap for a wall, a sloping edge for a stair, and it sheds water.

Also on Bin stores, boundary walls

Quoin

n., an outside corner

The corner of a wall picked out in brick against blockwork or render. It is what makes a plain block building look finished.

Plinth

n., a base course

A band of facing brick at the foot of a wall, under cladding or render. It keeps the base of the building hard-wearing and sharp.

Six inches away

Close-up of grey and cream facing bricks with smooth, even mortar joints receding along a wall — **Fig. 16** A blend of greys, pointed.

Close-up of pink and red facing bricks with fresh pointing, the wall running away towards a corner — **Fig. 17** Facing brick, fresh pointing.

Close-up of pale grey brick with sand-coloured mortar joints and a spirit level at the edge of the frame — **Fig. 18** Pale brick, just laid.

No. 04Sites

Where the scaffold has come down.

Recent sites, Essex and London
Chadwell St Mary	Four new houses: three terraced, one detached	New build
Tilbury	Four new houses	New build
Bexleyheath	Restaurant with four apartments above	New build
Farringdon	Two storeys added to an 1865 building	Package
Hampstead	New house, brickwork and blockwork	New build
Great Baddow	Bungalow, brickwork and blockwork	New build
Little Baddow	Four-bedroom bungalow	New build
Witham	Three-bedroom bungalow, brickwork and blockwork package	New build
Wanstead	Extension in reclaimed stocks, weather struck pointing	Extension
Stratford	Garden building and boundary wall: 10,000 yellow stocks	Walls
Chelmsford	Bungalow, extensions, and a brick plinth at Sandon	Mixed
Brentwood	Rear extensions, brickwork and blockwork	Extension
Upminster	Extensions in block and brick	Extension
Loughton	Blockwork package	Blockwork
Westcliff	Extension	Extension
Hutton	Rear extension in blockwork	Extension

Rear of a large new house in buff brick with a slate roof, dormers and wide glazed doors, over a lawn — **Fig. 19** A house we completed, then went back to build the front walls.

No. 05What we take on

Footings to wall plate, and the walls round the house.

01
New-build brickwork and blockwork
Houses, bungalows, apartments and commercial units, taken as a package.
02
Extensions
Single, double, side and rear. Footings to DPC, DPC to wall plate.
03
Facing brickwork
Stocks, reclaimed bricks, feature bonds, plinths, quoins and soldier arches.
04
Pointing and repointing
Weather struck, birds beak and raked joints.
05
Brick slips
A new face for a tired front elevation.
06
Garden, boundary and retaining walls
Piers, copings, steps and brick-on-edge detail.
07
Garages, outbuildings and bin stores
Built in block or brick, ready for render or roof.
08
Patios
Porcelain and raised patios, laid alongside the brickwork.

Commercial and domestic work taken on, for builders, developers and homeowners. We are actively tendering for masonry projects.

A rendered house front with brick-slip panel and corner quoins, and a new porcelain drive — **Fig. 20** Brick slips on a finished front elevation.

No. 06EnquiriesFree estimates

Ring Jake.

07849 407330

Emailjaebrickwork@hotmail.com Instagram@j.a.e_brickwork

Tell us what you are building and where, and we will come back with a free estimate. Builders and developers: send plans or a schedule.

J.A.E Brickwork

All aspects of brick/blockwork

Scaffold down.

Reliable brickwork, laid to a high standard and on time.

Four jobs, scaffold up and scaffold down.

Two more storeys on an 1865 building.

A restaurant below, four apartments above.

Reclaimed stocks, to match the street.

Four houses, one development.

What you’re looking at when the scaffold comes down.

Weather struck

Birds beak

Raked

Brick on edge

Quoin

Plinth

Where the scaffold has come down.

Footings to wall plate, and the walls round the house.

New-build brickwork and blockwork

Extensions

Facing brickwork

Pointing and repointing

Brick slips

Garden, boundary and retaining walls

Garages, outbuildings and bin stores

Patios

Ring Jake.

Or send the details.