K Barnard Brickwork

I have used K Barnard Brickwork services for many years, mainly with roofing issues, though a few years back, Ben did a great job decorating our bathroom. This particular job was to clean out my gutters and repair some gutter work, which was done to their usual high standards and at a very reasonable cost. I have also contracted with them to do some non-urgent work in the near future. Not only is their work to a high standard, but they are friendly, keep to their budget and their agreed time to do it. I don’t normally recommend people, but I have done with them, and over the years many of my neighbours have used their services to their satisfaction.

Disappointed writing this as other reviews so positive. Inside: three walls stripped back to brick, re rendered and plastered. Poor plastering -lumps, bumps, corners uneven, surface not flat where it should have been, natural curves in walls disappeared. Plastered over window frames and sides of stone fire surround. Outside: Re pointing good, but double glazed window frame chipped in places. Making good of concrete ground in two areas is lumpy with loose sand when swept. Small area pools in rain. Installation of French drain seems ok. Was told decorators will sort it out or that it’s ‘all right’ or my walls were the problem. They reluctantly returned on 3 separate occasions over a period of 3 months to try to correct the plaster work .Third time a different plasterer. Some improvements made by this plasterer but tried to contact him and no reply. Finish powdery (maybe it should be); some areas still uneven. Fire surround scratched where they removed overlay of plaster to redo it. Liquid sealant used over the concrete areas outside to stop loose sand which is now starting to peel off and still some loose sand. Attempts to mend the chips to the window frame quite good. All done very quickly, before original finish time so wonder if the rendering will do what it is designed to do. Workers pleasant enough until last day in their rush to get away. Impressive communication at start ; came out nearer start time to confirm jobs which gave me confidence to hire them.

We were absolutely impressed by everything about the work: from being fitted into a gap in their schedule bringing forward our work; the work carried out exceeded our expectations, was reasonably priced and beautifully executed to high standards. Ken, Ben and the team work to and derive satisfaction from working to a standard of professional excellence. They are masters of their trade and enjoy the work. Easy to discuss the job, clear diagnosis of the work required, very prompt on paperwork. The team worked really hard all day, and willing to add to the amount of brickwork repairs in our original commission. In addition, I asked for a piece of slate to be cut and fitted as an outsize drain cover, the fitting around the pipes was so exact that I was amazed, and they not only did that but were happy to unblock the drain, going above and beyond.

Keith and Ben were great - arrived on time, mended guttering/tiling around the house and improved the fit of several internal doors. Communication was really easy and they were very helpful and polite.

We are so pleased with the quality of work and advice that we received from Barnard Brickwork, which resulted in a beautiful Victorian-style front garden which gives the house incredible kerb appeal! The team worked so hard, and went above and beyond to ensure our front garden was absolutely perfect, this even included repainting windowsills because they had marked them and painting black the chrome bolts on the gate. My neighbours commented on how great the work was, and how considerate they were at clearing up their garden and the street at the end of every day. Many of my neighbours asked for their business card. They were a pleasure to have around, always updating us and asking if we had any preferences in the way things were done, we felt involved every step of the project. If you are looking for someone to undertaken brickwork, repointing, laying a Victorian pathway or patio, then we’d be happy to provide a reference and for you to come and have a look at their quality of work.

We had deteriorated brickwork and pointing on the outside of our house that was causing moisture to get into the brickwork. K Barnard Brickwork came and identified the problem, quoted for internal and external repairs and did a great job. I was particularly happy because they didn't push any of the extra work to be done - there was some moisture seeping from the brickwork into our internal plasterwork but rather than push to replaster all the inside, they suggested doing the external work first and then waiting to see how the plaster holds once it has dried out, saving me some money (for now!). They also did more repointing that was originally quoted for and generally went beyond what was agreed (even repairing a gutter that had come loose). Really happy with the work that was carried out. Would happily use K Barnard again.

Keith, Ben and their crew performed wonders in repairing and repointing the downstairs brick fireplaces in our Georgian listed house. They even created an arch where there wasn't one which looks like it is original to the house. They knew what needed to be done, did it well and left the area spotless. The whole crew was pleasant and easy to work with. Highly recommend!

Keith, Ben and Sean completely transformed the front of our Victorian terraced house. We are delighted with the work that was performed. This included stripping very ancient paint from the masonry, replicating and installing new stone corbels under the cills, building new walls around the front of the property, repainting the brickwork as well as lifting and laying new slate paving. The finishing touch was delivered by laying a new black and white tessellated path to our front door. Very smart. The team were hard working and paid great attention to detail. They were friendly and helpful whilst maintaining a professional approach at the same time. Highly recommended.

I had leaks in my bathroom this autumn with the sudden downpours. Keith and Ben came the following day to diagnose the problem and came subsequently to fit a deeper gutter and replace some flashing around the velux window. I also asked them to clean the gutters while they were up there. I have used them once or twice before and they have always responded rapidly and are very professional and friendly. I'm very happy with their work, and delighted to have such good roofers in my neighbourhood. I've also recommended this company to my neighbours, who have also been pleased with their work.

The work was itty bitty: pointing, reinforcing, repairing cracked sills. Issues were pointed out to me that I hadn’t noticed before. My house is late Victorian so obviously has some wear and tear. Keith and Ben spotted where the window sills had weaknesses which would contribute to or be the cause of interior dampness. Their remedies, which included introducing small steel reinforcing bars deep in the sills, were creative, unexpected and a great idea. They took great care to match the colour of pointing and brickwork to my requirements. And they did a couple of extras, all within timescale and budget. And they tidied up each day. All in all a very satisfied customer.

We moved into the new house in Brixton in late June. We realised we had problems with a patch of damp affecting the front wall of our living room. The damp specialist we instructed indicated that we need to remove a large proportion of the plaster in that room, re-point external brickwork and fix defective guttering, and then re-plaster. We wanted the side gate replaced too. Of all of the builders we spoke to Keith and Ben (Keith’s son in law) were the most straightforward, they understood precisely what we needed to have done, and promptly sent a quote. The quote was very reasonable and having met Keith and Ben I felt confident that the work would be done to the requisite standard. Keith’s team started the work on 20 October and finished on 26 October. The workmanship is excellent. Keith and his team were utterly lovely to deal with and extremely considerate. They were extremely friendly and very approachable. It was clear from discussions that Keith is very knowledgable about his trade and he is happy to explain what he is doing. I really cannot recommend these guys enough. We are already planning to get Keith and his team to deal with other works that need to be done to our house. It is difficult to find good and trustworthy builders. We feel confident that we have found them in K Barnard Brickwork. My only hesitation in recommending Keith is that if too many people realise just how good he is, he’ll get too busy. :- )

Keith, Ben and colleague arrived as agreed to repair a decorative external architrave that another large company had quoted a huge amount of money to repair. The team clearly have many skills from lots of years of experience and just got on with the job. They were prompt, tidy, friendly, and completed the job beautifully at a much more reasonable price. Truly a pleasure to employ.

Keith, Ben and the other two family members did a good job repairing our garden wall, which had lost much of top few layers and coping stones. It took them a few hours one day and the whole of the next. They were able to reuse many of the bricks and stones that had come off, which I appreciated, and finished it well. They also did good repair work on the roof parapet wall where rendering had come off. Cost was reasonable. They were reliable turning up to quote and start the work. Communication was generally good, and friendly. We had to wait quite a while until they quoted, and then until they could do the job when had a gap between larger jobs. But that was understood from the beginning, and I preferred that they were realistic about timing. They were generally quick at replying to emails about the quote and work.

K Barnard did really good work on the back of our house and garden. There was re-pointing and painting of walls, installation of a fence and trellises and work on paving stones. The communication was good throughout. The whole team seemed reliable and trustworthy.

100% satisfaction. Highly recommended. Professional advice on the job, detailed accurate contract, agreed price & invoicing, highly-skilled execution of all work, pleasant & co-operative attitude.

Just before Xmas 2020 my neighbour's car accidentally went into one of the 7 brick piers (posts) in my front garden wall. I collected a number of quotations from various local brick layers. All came in at around £950. But none were known or reputable. I got K Barnard off here. They provided a written quotation within a day. 5 weeks later they came and rebuilt the pier using the same old bricks. They meticulously cut the 60 or so bricks out of the knocked over pier and got rid of the concrete centre. It took around 9 hours to do the job. No break, all three working very hard. The pier restored and looking better than before it was knocked over. The quality of workmanship is top notch. The 3 guys are really good - no mess, they kept clear of the garden bushes, cleared up all the dust from cutting etc. Washed the road and path where they worked. They also made sure that the iron gate could be hung - all fitted and measured very nicely. I would definitely use K Barnard again. Great work, tidy, polite, quiet, job done with minimum of fuss. And they reused ALL the old bricks, so no waste at all. My neighbour paid up. In the end, K Barnard came in at £250 cheaper than the other 7 quotations, so his pain was not as bad as it could have been.

Keith and Ben stood out from the rest of the builders who came to quote for the work as it was obvious from the start that they are craftsmen who know their craft inside-out. We were not disappointed when the work began as Keith and Ben, joined by Gary and Justin worked like Trojans, fuelled by cups of coffee, biscuits and Pot Noodles! They were a real pleasure to have around - always polite, and careful if they had to come into the flat. They have an old-school approach to their work and obviously take pride in what they do - a rare quality these days. They completed the work on time and on budget and we are so glad that we chose them for the job. We were actually sad to see them go when they finished and have already recommended them to two neighbours who have asked for quotes.

Keith and Ben oversaw a big project at our property, re-instating a Victorian bay window which had been completely removed in the 60s. This involved rebuilding the bay from scratch to match the others on the street, commissioning stone masons to match exactly the designs of the period, replacing all windows to the front of the house and cleaning/repointing all brickwork. Also they completely renovated the front garden, building a new London stock brick wall with York stone coping stones, laid a victorian mosaic path, and put down reclaimed York stone flagstones. This was a huge project and we struggled to find people who had the skills and confidence to oversee everything. From the outset Ben and Keith made us feel that they could manage the project and that proved to be the case. The quality of their work is excellent and they were also a pleasure to have in the house, we missed them after they were gone to be honest. There may well be slicker and bigger contractors out there, but the personable way Ben and Keith handled us throughout the project was so valued and the end result looks absolutely great. All work was completed on agreed budget. We can't recommend them highly enough.

We contacted Keith and Ben after reading the reviews here and are very glad we did. We thought a lot of our terraced house needed repointing, but when they came to inspect they said most of it was in good condition and only needed patching. They also noticed that one of our gutters was too short, potentially damaging the brickwork. We also wanted repairs done to several cracked stone windowsills and to have our patio repointed. Gary and Sean did most of the work and did so meticulously, finishing it all in three days. We are delighted with the results, which included a new gutter and redoing some previous repair work that wasn't up to their high standards. Keith, Ben, Sean and Gary were all very pleasant to deal with, and as well as doing a great job of work, did a fantastic job clearing up afterwards.

We had Keith, Ben, Gary and Sean working on our house, doing extensive repointing as well as removing a defective chimney stack. We were extremely impressed with their knowledge and skills, they were fully versed in the appropriate techniques and materials for conversation of old victorian houses like ours. When we got quotes from other builders they had various concerns of 'this could go wrong', 'that could go wrong', but with Keith and team, their attitude was much more refreshing. They were clear on what the challenges could be, but had the attitude of just knuckling down and getting the job done. I would highly recommend them for any brickwork, repointing jobs big or small. These proper skills are hard to come by and if I learnt anything, it's that people who have learnt these skills over decades really know their stuff.

I had to make a journey from Oxfordshire to London to visit my property and Keith was able to meet me at my required time, though I understand he was busy. No work needed on this occasion but Keith gave me his advice freely and seems knowledgeable.

Keith and his mate completed the rebuilding and strengthening of a brick pier partly displaced by the roots of a holly tree to a very high standard and in less than the allotted time, and on budget. They left everything neat and tidy both overnight and upon completion. They were a pleasure to deal with, and my neighbours commented unasked on how friendly and polite they were. They were helpful and communication was the optimum.

Keith and Ben recently helped fix a damp problem at our flat. They were quick to respond to our enquiry, very knowledgeable and professional. Would definitely recommend!

Dealing with this company was a pleasure. They came on time, they were efficient, and tidy and they completed the work to a very high standard. They were friendly and extremely knowledgeable about the building trade. I would highly recommend them.

Keith's guys rebuilt a small brick wall and sorted out the walls on either side of the steps up to my front door. This involved removing the old, blown render, filling in holes, fixing metal strengthening on the outside corners and re-rendering. They also spotted 2 loose bricks and a crack in another place which I had overlooked and repaired them for me without asking. They were unfailingly punctual, good humoured and professional. They tidied up at the end of each working day and the bags of rubble were promptly removed. Excellent professional workmanship and good value for money.