Edinburgh · Scotland
External Mastic in Drylaw
External mastic for Drylaw and the surrounding area: careful preparation, the right product and tidy work. Ask us for a quick quote.
- Rain getting behind render or cladding at a joint
- Moss and dirt in joints with no sealant left
- Brick movement joints where the sealant has split
External mastic in Drylaw
We are ARBOMaster approved applicators, and each external joint gets a sealant suited to it. Porous or awkward surfaces are primed where the sealant needs it and we use one wherever it does. If you have moss and dirt in joints with no sealant left and rain getting behind render or cladding at a joint, we can put it right, on façade panels, concrete & block and brickwork movement joints alike.
Gutters and downpipes on tall city tenements are a long way up, so a leaking joint can run down the stone for months before anyone notices. In Drylaw, access needs planning, and work on shared parts may need the other owners’ agreement.
The work is covered for a year after we finish. If there’s a problem with it, please drop us a line at info@mrmastic.co.uk.
- Location
- Drylaw (EH4, EH5)
- Region
- Edinburgh
- Cover
- A year, on every job
- Quotes
- A clear quote up front
- info@mrmastic.co.uk
- Page updated
- 26 October 2026
Your questions about external mastic in Drylaw
Does living near the coast affect external mastic in Drylaw?
Coastal homes put outside sealant through more weather than inland ones, so the choice of sealant and the preparation matter even more. Walls facing the sea are normally the first to need attention.
Do you work for landlords with property near Haymarket station?
Yes, we work for landlords and letting agents. Just drop us a line at info@mrmastic.co.uk and tell us about the property, and we’ll give you a clear quote.
Do I have to be there?
It depends on the job. Inside work needs someone to give us access, and for outside work we’ll agree access with you when we book.
Can I add another job to the visit?
Yes. Just list everything you need and you’ll get one quote.
Where are you based?
Mr Mastic is based in Crawley. Our applicators cover Drylaw, along with the rest of our area.
Can you seal over the old sealant?
No, and we never do. It may look fine at first, but the new bead soon lifts. The old sealant has to come out completely.
Do you do commercial work?
Yes. We’ve worked for hotels, offices and other businesses and we are fully insured.
When is the sealant fully cured?
Cure times vary by product and the temperature. We tell you how long to leave it before we go.
DIY versus a professional finish
Some sealant jobs are within reach of a careful DIYer, such as a straightforward joint indoors. Where it goes wrong is sealing over the old bead, working on a wet joint or overloading the gap.
If you’ve already had a go yourself, that’s fine. We remove it and do the joint properly.
What affects the cost of external mastic
There’s no set price list, because no two jobs are the same. What we look at:
- Which sealant suits the joint
- Working hours on commercial sites
- Whether the work is at height
- Whether there’s mould to deal with
The cost reflects the work involved, not guesswork. That’s why we ask about the job first.
What to tell us for a quote
Photos help, but a description is a good start. Please mention:
- How we’d reach the joints
- How many joints, rooms or windows are involved
- If it’s domestic, commercial or a hotel
- Photos by email, if that’s easy
To get a quote, email us at info@mrmastic.co.uk with the location and a short description of the problem. You’ll have a clear quote before any work starts.
What sealant work cannot fix
Honest advice matters more to us than a booking, so here’s what sealant can’t fix:
- Cracked brickwork or render that needs a builder or plasterer
- Damp that is not coming from the joint
- Movement that is more than a sealant joint can take
If in doubt, drop us a line at info@mrmastic.co.uk and we will say what we think.
Where we work in Drylaw
- Concrete & block
- Joints between brick and frames
- Copings & trims
- Render & cladding joints
- Façade panels
- Brickwork movement joints
Why deal with it now?
Resealing a run of joints in one go is generally better than patching one at a time. They’ve weathered the same way and it means sorting access once. Wind-driven rain gets into any failed joint on the outside of a city building, and in a tall building in Drylaw, damp can travel a long way before it shows.
Rather than a set price list, we look at what your job involves: the amount of work, the old material and the access. The price is agreed before we begin.
Why book with us
- 180+ five-star Google reviews
- Colour picked to suit the job
- A choice of colours where the product allows
- You choose the colour before work begins
Read our cost guide or our reviews.
Common problems we fix in Drylaw
Some movement joints have been pointed up with mortar by mistake. With the joint locked solid, the movement turns into cracks elsewhere in the wall.
Any of these means the joints need attention:
- Joints with sealant missing in places
- Failed sealant between panels on a façade
- Gaps where render, brick and frames meet
- Old sealant gone brittle and cracked
Schools such as Craigroyston Community High School are buildings too, and larger buildings have long runs of movement joint that eventually need resealing.
Before booking anyone
- What happens if the job turns out different
- How the joint is cleaned and prepared
- How the colour is chosen
- How long the guarantee is
What external mastic looks like in Drylaw
Drylaw is close to the coast, where wind-driven rain is a fact of life and, nearer the shore, so is salt air. That’s hard on movement joints and outside wall joints, especially on the side facing the sea. The Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 sets out how owners share the upkeep of common parts like the roof and outside walls, often through a property factor. The title deeds set out which parts are common.
If you live in an older home near St Columba's Parish Church, an extension built onto an older house moves differently, and the joint between them takes the strain. Letting a property close to Haymarket station? Then split movement joints are easy to miss on a rental until damp shows inside.
Drylaw is about 2 miles west of Stockbridge, in Edinburgh. If you need external mastic in Drylaw, it’s easy to get a quote: please send an email to info@mrmastic.co.uk. We cover Edinburgh from our Crawley base. Our Edinburgh coverage runs to 175 places, and Drylaw is one of them.
Work in EH4 and EH5 works the same way as everywhere else we cover. If you need external mastic at a property on Mottram Road, Telford Road and Drylaw Avenue or anywhere close by, we can help. With the A902 close by, Drylaw is easy for our applicators to reach. Neighbouring places we cover for external mastic include Blackhall (1 mile south-west), Muirhouse (1 mile north), Crewe Toll (1 mile north-east), East Pilton (1 mile east) and West Pilton (1 mile north). Within a short drive, we also cover Leith (3 miles east), Bonnington (3 miles east), Greenside (3 miles east), Buccleuch (3 miles south-east), Pilrig (3 miles east) and North Leith (3 miles east).
What’s near Drylaw
Locally, jobs take us to homes and businesses close to Stewart's Melville College and Gabrielle Keiller Library and the streets around them. The closest station to Drylaw is Haymarket station, about 1.7 miles south-east of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Western General Hospital (0.6 miles east) and Murrayfield Experience (1.6 miles south). For a walk, there’s Corstorphine Hill and Dunsapie Loch.
How the visit works
When we get to you, we compare the joints with what we discussed. If anything is different, we explain it before carrying on. After that, the work takes a few hours to a few days, depending on the length of joint and the access. Inside a flat in Drylaw, the job is planned with you; outside, shared parts may need the factor or other owners involved. It helps to know which it is when you get in touch.
- We start by walking round the building and agreeing the joints and the access.
- We cut out the old mastic and rake out anything in the joint.
- The faces are brushed clean and primed where the product requires it.
- Backing rod sized to the joint goes in to set the depth.
- The exterior sealant is applied, tooled and checked along its length.
Getting ready for the visit
- Keep children and pets away from the work area
- For business premises, tell us about site rules or sign-in
- For indoor joints, keep the area dry beforehand if you can
Getting a quote
Call for a quick quote, or email us if that’s easier. Tell us about the joints that need doing and we will explain what’s involved and give you a clear price.
Advice
Looking after it afterwards
Looking after new joints is easy, and it makes a real difference:
- Tell anyone working on the walls about the movement joints
- Look over the joints every year, ideally after winter
- Get split or bare joints resealed while the damage is small
- Ask before painting over external sealant
Only paint over the joint if we’ve confirmed the sealant can take paint. Many exterior sealants are not designed to be painted.
Leave a failed movement joint and water keeps getting into the wall. Over time it can mean damp inside, stained render or frost-damaged brick, all bigger jobs than a reseal.