Edinburgh mastic sealing
Mastic sealing for building owners, managing agents and housing associations throughout Edinburgh and nearby, carried out by CSCS-carded applicators. CHAS accredited and fully insured.
- Window mastic that has split and shrunk
- Draughts at frames across a block
- No planned programme for sealant
Mastic sealing near Edinburgh
Share the site address and what’s failing, and we’ll reply with a fixed quote or arrange a visit.
Commercial clients in Edinburgh
For main contractors, we work as the sealant subcontractor, on new build and refurbishment alike. We work to your programme, your specification and your site rules.
Hospitality, education, healthcare, office and retail clients come to us directly as well. We plan around the way the building is used, so guests, pupils, patients or staff are disturbed as little as possible.
Mastic sealing in Edinburgh, done properly
On a residential block, the work happens around people’s lives. The sequence, the areas and the dates are settled with you so you can let residents know what is happening. Entrances and stairwells are kept in use while we work. We work on communal kitchens and washrooms, shopfronts below residential blocks and communal entrances and stairwells, and the failures we’re asked to look at most are draught complaints from residents or tenants and estate-wide sealant that is simply worn out. Whether you call it commercial sealant work, mastic application or joint sealing, the work in Edinburgh is the same: the right product in a properly prepared joint.
Sandstone tenements in most Scottish cities, and granite in Aberdeen, need mastic that suits the stone, and replacement windows set into those walls need a perimeter sealant that won’t mark the stone.
The 12-month guarantee is for workmanship rather than wear and tear. How long a sealant joint lasts depends on movement, exposure, cleaning and use, so we spell out the cover before we begin.
For owners and agents in Edinburgh
Edinburgh sits close to the coast, within about 2 miles. For owners and agents with buildings near the sea, exposed elevations are where frame mastic fails first. Edinburgh is on Scotland’s drier eastern side. Cold mornings still limit when outside mastic can go on. Block programmes are built with that in mind
Landlords with units on estates such as Russell Road Industrial Estate, 0.8 miles to the west of Edinburgh, can bring frame, door and external mastic across several units into one programme. For a school such as Tollcross Primary School, perimeter mastic on windows and doors is a holiday job.
Edinburgh is in Scotland. Looking for mastic sealing in Edinburgh? We can help, as we do across Edinburgh. Our Edinburgh coverage takes in 174 places.
Business premises anywhere in EH4, EH14, EH12 and EH6 are within our area for mastic joints. For a building on Fountainbridge Square, Conference Square and Mcewan Square or nearby, send details and we will quote for mastic joints. Main routes into Edinburgh include the A1 and A7, useful when we plan access and materials. Sites close to Edinburgh are covered too, including West End (1 mile north-west), Bruntsfield (1 mile south), Merchiston (1 mile south), Dalry (1 mile west) and Greenhill (1 mile south). Further afield, our area takes in Leith (3 miles north-east), Queensferry (8 miles west), Timber Bush (3 miles north-east), South Portobello (3 miles east), Southhouse (4 miles south-east) and Newhaven (3 miles north).
Local landmarks in Edinburgh
Recent enquiries here include premises near Signet Library, Bruntsfield Links and Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, among other places. Other local landmarks include Boroughmuir High School (under half a mile south) and Bennets Bar (less than half a mile south-east). Edinburgh’s nearest station is Haymarket station, about 0.5 miles west. Well-known places in the area include Museum of Fire (under half a mile north-east) and Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion (less than half a mile east). Green spaces nearby include Salisbury Crags and Dunsapie Loch.
Edinburgh: questions and answers
Do you work in occupied care homes around Edinburgh?
Yes. Care settings are planned area by area, at times agreed with the home. Tell us about any infection-control or safeguarding requirements and we’ll work to them.
Will you take on a block within reach of Haymarket station?
Yes. Managing agents, landlords, property factors and housing associations are who this service is for. Send the address, photos of the elevations and your access arrangements, and we’ll give a fixed quote.
Is asbestos a concern with old mastic?
Asbestos removal isn’t part of our work. If old sealant is suspected, work stops until it’s tested in line with the dutyholder’s asbestos management.
When can the area be used after sealing?
That comes down to the sealant and the temperature. Some take light use quickly, others need longer to cure, and we confirm it before leaving site.
How do you reach windows on upper floors?
Access is discussed and agreed before the quote is fixed. Tell us the number of storeys and whether scaffold or other access is planned and we will confirm the approach in the quote.
Who decides which product is used?
A specification, where there is one, decides it. If there isn’t one, it comes down to the joint: how much it moves, what it bonds to and whether it’s wet, trafficked or fire-rated.
How many days will you need on site?
We plan the time on site around your programme and access. You will have an expected duration with the quote.
How the quote is worked out
What shapes the price:
- How much there is to seal
- The site’s rules and procedures
- Removal of failed or old sealant
- Access and working height
The product called for affects the cost, as does the preparation each joint needs. Access, phasing and site requirements come into it too.
Details that help us quote
We can often quote from photographs and a few details. Please tell us:
- The product your specification calls for
- What the building is and how it’s used
- Your programme or deadline
- Access details, including height
Photos, drawings or a schedule of the joints and a fixed quote comes back to you. If the job needs a look first, we’ll arrange a site visit.
Our process
We bring the products specified for the job, along with primers and backing rod. Any old material is cut back to clean, sound faces, the manufacturer’s primer is applied where it’s called for, and each bead is tooled to a neat concave finish. Work on a big city site in Scotland usually involves inductions and permits. Pass on the site’s contractor rules when you get in touch.
- First we look at the mastic on each building and note what needs replacing.
- You get a fixed quote, priced per building where that helps your budgeting.
- The sequence and the dates are fixed with you, giving you what you need to notify occupiers.
- Old sealant is stripped and each face prepared back to firm material.
- Deep joints get backing rod, faces are primed if the manufacturer specifies it, then the joint is sealed and tooled.
- Finished joints are looked over and the 12-month guarantee confirmed.
Getting the site ready
- Flag any permit to work we’ll need
- Clear stock, furniture or equipment away from the joints
- Send asbestos survey details if the building is pre-2000
Getting a fixed quote
Every quote starts with the facts: what’s there, how much of it, how we reach it and what’s specified. Send what you have, and we’ll arrange a site visit if anything is unclear.
Advice
Nearby places to Edinburgh
More services for Edinburgh
Why act early in Edinburgh
Sealing over failed mastic looks tidy for a while. It won’t grip the old sealant and soon comes away. Full removal and proper preparation is what lasts. Getting access arranged for a building in Edinburgh takes time, so deal with all failing joints while access is up.
Quantities, awkward access and phased working all shape the price. So do site requirements such as inductions and permits.
Why us?
- Old sealant cut out, never sealed over
- CHAS accredited contractor
- Workmanship guaranteed for 12 months
- A range of standard colours, depending on the product
Read how commercial sealant jobs are priced and how we’re accredited.
Common problems we fix in Edinburgh
Sunlight and weather break mastic down over time. The surface chalks, the body stiffens and cracks appear most of all on the sunniest and most exposed elevations.
What tends to prompt an enquiry:
- Occupiers reporting cold air round windows
- Repeated reactive repairs to the same buildings
- Mastic failing across several blocks on an estate
- Failed external movement joints
If you’re responsible for a building such as St Cuthbert's Church, frame and door mastic needs the same attention as any other property.
Comparing quotes
- Who will actually carry out the work
- Whether primer will be used where the manufacturer specifies it
- Health and safety accreditation such as CHAS
- How they’ll work around occupants
Aftercare for building managers
A few simple habits keep the new joints working:
- Start inspections with the most exposed faces
- List the paperwork your organisation requires when you send details
- Protect low-level joints in entrances
- Ask residents or tenants to report leaks and draughts early
If a joint we sealed fails within 12 months, tell us and we’ll look at it. Beyond that, routine checks spot the next round of repairs.
Planned resealing is easier to budget than emergency repairs. We can quote buildings in priority order and work down the list.