Hourston mastic sealing
Mastic sealing for Hourston, from a contractor working since 2005. Fully insured, with a 12-month guarantee.
- Leaks at window and door perimeters
- No planned programme for sealant
- Window mastic that has split and shrunk
Mastic sealing across Hourston
Send drawings, photos or a joint schedule, or tell us about the site, and we’ll come back with a fixed quote.
When to bring in a specialist
A short, simple internal joint is often within reach of a maintenance team. Where it goes wrong is preparation: sealing over old material, sealing onto damp or dusty surfaces, or a product that can’t take the movement.
Putting right a botched joint often costs more than sealing it well at the start, because the whole bead must be removed and the faces cleaned back again. For that reason, many FMs and contractors use a sealant specialist from the outset.
Mastic sealing for commercial buildings in Hourston
Owners and agents typically inherit a building’s mastic rather than choose it and it slowly wears out: it sits round windows and doors, along external joints and through communal areas. Once it cracks, hardens or comes away, draughts and water find a way in, and occupiers start reporting it. Most enquiries involve movement joints with sealant missing and a mix of products and colours from past repairs, across communal kitchens and washrooms, shopfronts below residential blocks and communal entrances and stairwells. Looking for mastic applicators who cover Hourston? Mastic Doctor has worked for contractors, FMs and building owners since 2005.
Outside mastic in Scotland needs dry joints and the right temperature, so work around Hourston is planned with the forecast. Programmes allow for the weather.
Work we carry out comes with a 12-month guarantee. Should something we installed fail, call the office on 01277 525 020 or send photos by email and we will come back to it.
- Where
- Hourston (KW17)
- Region
- Orkney Islands
- Guarantee
- A 12-month guarantee
- Price
- Fixed quote, scope in writing
- Call
- 01277 525 020
- Last updated
- 3 November 2026
Why act early in Hourston
Reacting to every complaint means sending someone out block by block. Planned resealing covers a whole building or estate in one go and is simpler to manage and budget. Exposed buildings in Scotland take a lot of weather, and for a smaller place like Hourston, a repair visit takes planning, so it’s better to act early.
Access can matter as much as the joints themselves: 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
- Fully insured
- Sealing commercial buildings since 2005
- Work to your specification and the manufacturer’s guidance
- Health and safety: CHAS accredited
Take a look at our cost guide or our accreditations and insurance.
Our process
We begin with a short walk round with whoever looks after the building, to confirm the scope, the order of work and any areas we must keep clear. Then we strip out anything that has failed, prepare every joint and seal it. For a building near Hourston, directions, keys and a contact on the day are worth sorting early. We will confirm the plan with the fixed quote.
- We check the asbestos register for older buildings and look at the joints.
- The products and programme are set out in a fixed quote.
- Failed mastic is removed completely.
- The joints are prepared and resealed with the right product.
- Buildings are completed in turn.
Preparing the site
- Tell staff and tenants when we will be in
- Agree which areas must stay open
- Send any specification or drawings in advance
Request a quote
Tell us about the building, the joints and when you need the work done, and a fixed quote will follow. To get it moving, speak to us on 01277 525 020 or email a schedule or drawings.
Related advice
When something else is needed
A few problems need another trade or a different fix, and we point that out rather than sealing over them:
- Leaks from above rather than through a joint
- Masonry that has broken away beside the joint
- Asbestos-containing sealant, which we don’t remove
Not sure which it is? You can call 01277 525 020 or send details through our quote form and we will tell you honestly before you book.
Where we work in Hourston
- Shopfronts below residential blocks
- Communal entrances and stairwells
- Window and door perimeters on blocks
- Balcony and threshold joints
- Communal kitchens and washrooms
- External wall and movement joints
Also in Hourston
Questions about Hourston
Will you price a mastic programme across our Hourston portfolio?
Yes. Planned programmes across a building, block or estate are a core part of this service. We can phase the programme to suit your budgets and notice periods.
Is Hourston inside the area you cover, given it’s on an island?
Yes. Islands are part of our area, Hourston included. We group island work where we can and plan around the crossings.
Can you work to our specification?
Yes. We follow the specification, along with the manufacturer’s installation guidance, and we raise anything unclear before work begins.
Do you seal on top of existing sealant?
No. Sealing over old material is one of the classic causes of early joint failure, so everything comes out first.
Which sealant will you use?
Where there’s a specification, we use the product it names. Otherwise, we recommend a product to suit the joint’s movement, the substrate and the conditions, following the manufacturer’s guidance.
Can weather delay the job?
Outside, yes. The joint has to be dry and within the product’s temperature range, so frost, rain or cold mornings can delay outside work. Inside work is seldom held up.
Can you seal joints high up on a block?
We talk through access for each building when we quote. Tell us the number of storeys and whether scaffold or other access is planned, and we will tell you how we’d approach it.
Aftercare for building managers
Problems stay small when the joints are checked regularly. Specifically:
- Share the asbestos register when you send details
- Group repairs into a planned programme
- Reduce knocks to communal area joints
- Encourage occupiers to report problems at frames
Encourage occupiers to report water or draughts at frames. Early reports catch failures before damage spreads.
Failed mastic often goes unnoticed until heavy rain finds it. Acting at the first signs keeps it a straightforward reseal and saves internal repairs.
Looking after buildings in and around Hourston
Hourston lies within about 2 miles of the sea. Sea-facing elevations take driven rain and salt, and their mastic shows it before the sheltered sides do, so it’s worth inspecting those sides more often. For an island location such as Hourston, work is planned around ferry crossings and the weather. A list of buildings lets us cover them all on one trip where we can.
Historic properties like Skaill House (4.1 miles west of Hourston) show the age of some local stock, where frame mastic must suit soft brick or stone. Around Hourston, a planned programme renews failed mastic across a building or estate in one go.
Hourston is about 11 miles north-west of Kirkwall, in the Orkney Islands. Hourston sits inside our coverage and the rest of the Orkney Islands, with the same fixed quotes and 12-month guarantee as everywhere else. Hourston is one of 51 places we cover in the Orkney Islands for mastic joints.
Business premises anywhere in KW17 are within our area. We also cover Russland (1 mile south), Dounby (1 mile north), Harray (2 miles south-east), Skeabrae (2 miles north-west) and Tenston (2 miles south-west). Remote and island addresses take more planning, from travel and ferries to the weather, so give the site location in your enquiry.
Around Hourston
Other landmarks nearby include Corrigall Farm Museum (1.5 miles east). Open spaces near Hourston include Loch of Bosquoy and Kame of Corrigall.
What sets the cost
To price the job, we consider:
- Phasing around occupants
- The site’s rules and procedures
- Removal of failed or old sealant
- Any access equipment needed
We don’t publish prices, because the scope varies so much from one building to the next. For a fixed figure, call for a quote and we will price your job on its own details.
What we need to price the job
The more we know, the firmer the quote. Helpful details to send:
- Any dates the work must fit around
- The site address and postcode
- The asbestos register, for older buildings
- The type of building and who uses it
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.