Expansion joint sealing in Sound
Planning work on a movement joint in Sound? We look at it, seal it with the right product and hand it over with a 12-month guarantee.
- Sealant peeling off one face of the joint
- Damp inside where a wall movement joint has failed
- Layers of sealant in a movement joint
Need expansion joint sealing in Sound?
Tell us what needs sealing and where, with photos or drawings if you have them, and we’ll price it.
When to bring in a specialist
General builders and handymen seal joints, but it isn’t their main trade. A specialist prepares properly, controls joint depth and picks a product with the right movement class.
Certain joints really need a specialist: for example fire-rated seals that must match a tested detail, trafficked floor joints and external movement joints. Getting these wrong usually costs more in the end than doing them right.
How we handle expansion joint sealing in Sound
Long runs of brick or block have movement joints built in, and they’re easy to miss until the sealant fails. Failed sealant here lets rain into the wall and can leave the joint full of debris. The old seal is cut away, backing rod goes in at depth, and a low-modulus masonry sealant is gunned and tooled. Site teams most often ask us about arrises breaking up along floor joints and sealant pulling off the joint face, on podiums and floor movement joints, precast concrete panel joints and blockwork control joints. Sealant contractors, mastic applicators, sealant specialists: whatever the job title on the order, the work in Sound is the same: failed joints cut out, faces prepared and the right sealant laid to the right depth.
Weather windows decide external joint work around a place like Sound: sealant needs a dry joint and a temperature within its range. Internal floors can be done whenever suits the site.
Every job ends the same way: guaranteed. Our workmanship is backed for 12 months, and the quote explains what it covers.
- Location
- Sound (ZE1)
- Wider area
- Shetland Islands
- Guarantee
- A 12-month guarantee
- Quote
- Quoted before any work starts
- Call
- 01277 525 020
- Page updated
- 3 November 2026
How the quote is worked out
These are the things that shape the price:
- How much there is to seal
- Access and working height
- Whether the work must be split into stages
- Whether old sealant has to be cut out first
What a job costs comes down to the quantity of joints, how much old material needs removing and how the joints are reached. Call for a fixed quote once you have the details.
Details that help us quote
A good diagnosis starts with the right details. Tell us:
- The site address and postcode
- The asbestos register, for older buildings
- How the joints are reached, and at what height
- Approximate linear metres or a joint schedule
A handful of photos and a postcode is the fastest way to a quote. Send them through the quote form, or phone 01277 525 020 or use the quote form to discuss it first.
Our process
Working in a building that stays open takes some planning. The work area is signed and kept contained, with routes through the building left open and work section by section so the rest of the building stays in use. Jobs near Sound are often grouped with others in the same area. Tell us how flexible your dates are.
- The first job is to check each joint: how wide it is, how it moves and why the old seal let go.
- A fixed quote follows, naming the sealant and its movement class.
- Old sealant and filler are cut out and the joint faces cleaned back to sound material, flagging any broken edges that need repair before sealing.
- We control the depth with backing rod or, in shallow joints, bond-breaker tape.
- Where the maker calls for primer, it’s applied first, then the bead goes in and is tooled to a concave finish.
- Finished joints are checked and backed by our 12-month guarantee.
Preparing the site
- Have the specification and drawings to hand
- Tell us your opening times and when work is allowed
- Send asbestos survey details if the building is pre-2000
Getting a fixed quote
If there’s a specification, drawings or a tender package, send it with your enquiry, and we’ll price the work to it. Smaller jobs need nothing more than photographs and a few notes.
Read more
Questions we are asked in Sound
Is Sound inside the area you cover, given it’s on an island?
Yes. We cover the whole of Scotland, and that includes island locations such as Sound. We group island work where we can and plan around the crossings.
Can you take on a job at a hospital such as Gilbert Bain Hospital?
Yes, provided the work is planned with the site’s estates team. We follow the site’s permits, sign-in and infection-control procedures in every area.
Do you need to see the site first?
Many jobs can be quoted from photographs, drawings or a joint schedule. If the job needs a look first, we’ll arrange a visit before quoting.
Can you work while the building is occupied?
Typically, yes. We phase the work so most of the building stays in use.
Is any job too small?
Single areas, one-off repairs and whole buildings are all quoted the same way: send details, get a fixed quote, we seal, guaranteed.
Are you CHAS accredited?
Yes. CHAS accredited, Constructionline member, and our applicators hold CSCS cards.
Is it fine to apply new sealant on top of old?
No. Overlaying old sealant is a frequent cause of early failure, so it all comes out first.
Where floor joints take the most wear near Sound
Sound sits close to the coast, within about 1 mile. External movement joints in car parks, ramps and yards near the coast take salt and wind-driven rain on top of traffic, so it pays to keep them sealed. Sound is in the east of Scotland, which is drier than the west. Freezing weather and salt still attack open external joints. Sealing them before winter limits the damage.
Large sites such as Gilbert Bain Hospital (to the north-east of Sound) have car parks, service roads and long elevations with movement joints in brick and panels. Schools like Anderson High School often have long brick elevations with movement joints that age quietly.
Sound is about 1 mile south-west of Lerwick, in the Shetland Islands. We send applicators to Sound for movement joints, handled exactly as we handle every other area. Our the Shetland Islands coverage takes in 63 places.
Business premises anywhere in ZE1 are within our area for movement joints. If your site is on Quoys Road, South Road and Oversund Road or close by, send details and we’ll quote for movement joints. Nearby places we also cover include Lerwick (1 mile north-east), Gulberwick (2 miles south-west), Gremista (2 miles north), Grindiscol (2 miles east) and Heogan (2 miles north-east). As one of the bigger centres in the Shetland Islands, Sound has a broad mix of commercial, public and industrial buildings, and we cover them all. Remote and island addresses take more planning, from travel and ferries to the weather, so give the site location in your enquiry.
Landmarks near Sound
In Sound, that means premises near Gilbertson Park. Other landmarks nearby include Gilbert Bain Hospital (0.7 miles north-east) and Shetland Museum (1.2 miles north-east). The countryside around Sound includes Hill of Berry and Clickimin Loch.
Common problems we fix in Sound
When a bead pulls away from one face, it has lost adhesion. Dusty, damp or contaminated faces, a missing primer and three-sided adhesion are the usual causes and it often shows on rushed work.
Site and facilities staff are often the first to spot these:
- Brittle, chalky sealant on external joints
- Leaks through car park deck joints onto the level below
- Rain penetration at brick or block movement joints
- Joints packed with grit and debris
For buildings at a park such as North Ness Business Park (1.4 miles north-east of Sound), brick and panel movement joints are easy to forget until one leaks.
Before you book anyone
- Health and safety accreditation such as CHAS
- How they’ll work around occupants
- Will failed sealant be removed rather than covered?
- Will CSCS-carded applicators be on site?
Why it’s worth doing now in Sound
Patching the worst lengths of a joint can make sense short term. The remaining sealant is often close to failing too, and a second visit means paying for access again. Where it helps, we quote both options. Around smaller places like Sound, halls, stores and seasonal buildings may not be checked often, so a failed joint has time to cause damage. Resealing early avoids that.
Access often affects the price as much as the sealing: joints within easy reach take less time than ones that need access equipment. Tell us how the joints are reached and call for a quote.
What you get with us
- Our applicators hold CSCS cards
- CHAS accredited
- Constructionline member
- Coloured sealants to suit the setting, where available
See our cost guide and how we’re accredited.
Nearby places to Sound
Also in Sound
After the work
Cleaning and maintenance staff play a part too. Pass these on to them:
- Keep stones and debris out of open joint lines
- Report split or peeling joint sealant early
- Keep scrapers and ploughs from dragging across joint sealant
- Keep traffic off new joints until the cure time is up
Snow ploughs and scrapers catch on joint lines. Lifting the blade at each joint avoids tearing the bead, and it’s worth checking joints once the cold weather has passed.
On a multi-storey car park, a failed joint normally shows up as a leak onto the deck underneath. Salty water dripping through stains soffits and lands on parked vehicles and it can affect the structure over time. Sealing the joint promptly stops it at source.