Edinburgh · Scotland
External & façade joints in Northfield, Edinburgh
Specialist external mastic for Northfield: careful preparation, the right product and tidy work. Ask us for a quick quote.
- Leaking joints around cladding and façade panels
- Brick movement joints where the sealant has split
- Failed seals between different materials
Your questions about external mastic in Northfield
I let a flat near Brunstane station. Can you help?
Yes. We work for landlords and letting agents as well as homeowners. Just email us at info@mrmastic.co.uk with the address and what needs doing, and we will give you a clear quote.
Who arranges sealant work on the shared parts of a tenement in Northfield?
The owners of the flats generally agree repairs to shared parts like the roof and outside walls, and many buildings have a factor to arrange it. The Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 sets out how that works where the title deeds don’t. Your title deeds will say who owns the windows.
Do you seal joints where cladding meets other materials?
Yes. Joints between dissimilar materials are a big part of external work. We use a flexible sealant suited to both surfaces with primer where required.
Do you use backing rod?
Backing rod goes into deeper joints as a matter of course. It sets the sealant depth and prevents three-sided bonding.
Do I have to be there?
For indoor joints, yes, someone needs to let us in. After that, you can carry on with your day.
Where are you based?
We work from Crawley. Our applicators cover Northfield, along with the rest of our area.
What is a movement joint?
It’s a deliberate gap that lets the wall expand and contract without cracking. It should be filled with flexible sealant, never mortar.
Do you work in Northfield?
We do. Northfield is part of the area we cover, and the service is the same as everywhere else.
External mastic in Northfield, done properly
We cut out failed sealant, set the joint depth with closed-cell backing rod and reseal with a low-modulus exterior sealant. The colour is chosen to suit the brick or render. If you have rigid filler in a joint that should flex and leaking joints around cladding and façade panels, we can help, whatever the surface.
Stone-built tenements in Scotland’s cities share their roof, gutters and outside walls between every flat in the building. For a tenement in Northfield, repairs to shared parts are normally agreed between the owners, often through a property factor.
Whatever the size of the job, you get the same 12-month guarantee.
- Location
- Northfield (EH8, EH15, EH7)
- Region
- Edinburgh
- Cover
- 12 months on all our work
- Price
- Quoted before any work starts
- info@mrmastic.co.uk
- Page updated
- 26 October 2026
Places near Northfield
Other services in Northfield
Walls and rooflines in Northfield
Northfield is close to the coast, where wind-driven rain is a fact of life and, nearer the shore, so is salt air. Both are hard on movement joints and outside wall joints, which can dry out and crack sooner where a building faces the weather. Private landlords in Scotland must meet the Repairing Standard, which includes keeping a home wind and watertight, and sound outside sealant is part of that.
Homes close to Willowbrae Parish Church include some older properties, and an extension built onto an older house moves differently, and the joint between them takes the strain. Letting a property close to Brunstane station? Then outside joints that have cracked can let damp into a rental, so check them between lets.
Northfield is about 3 miles east of Edinburgh, in Edinburgh. Jobs in Northfield get the same care as everywhere else we work: the old material taken out, joints prepared properly and a 12-month guarantee. We cover 175 towns and villages across Edinburgh, from the larger towns to small villages.
Postcode districts we cover here for external mastic: EH8, EH15 and EH7. Whether your property is on Durham Avenue, Parker Avenue and Paisley Avenue or anywhere close by, we can help. Being close to the A1 and A1140, Northfield is easy for our applicators to reach for external mastic. Neighbouring places we cover for external mastic include Mountcastle (1 mile north-east), Piershill (1 mile north-west), Willowbrae (1 mile west), Craigentinny (1 mile north) and South Portobello (1 mile east). Further out, we also cover Edinburgh (3 miles west), Leith (3 miles north-west), Silvermills (3 miles west), West End (3 miles west), Stockbridge (3 miles west) and North Leith (3 miles north-west).
Around Northfield
Typical jobs here are in homes near Abercorn Park, Portobello Library and Public House, among other places. The closest station to Northfield is Brunstane station, roughly 1.4 miles east. Nearby you will also find Craigmillar Castle (1.7 miles south) and Cameron Toll Shopping Centre (1.9 miles south-west). Green spaces nearby include The New Leaf Co-op and Whinny Hill.
What we’re called out for in Northfield
Sunlight, wet weather and frost wear exterior sealant down. Over the years it hardens, cracks on the surface and loses its give, so the joint eventually tears or comes away from one side.
Any of these means the joints need attention:
- Cracked joints where brick meets render or frames
- Weathered mastic that no longer stretches
- Leaking joints around cladding and façade panels
- Joints with sealant missing in places
Managing a site like Portobello High School? Then larger buildings have long runs of movement joint that eventually need resealing.
Before you book anyone
- How long to leave it before use
- Whether you can choose the colour
- Who does the work, and how experienced they are
- How the surfaces are prepared before sealing
DIY sealant or a professional job?
Sealing over old silicone is the commonest DIY error. Silicone does not stick to old silicone, so it peels away and traps moisture behind it. All the old material has to come out first.
Not every job suits DIY: work at height, external movement joints, fire-rated sealant and large areas need the right product, the right access and the right method.
The process
When we arrive, we start by going over the job with you, so there are no surprises. Surfaces next to the work are protected before we start. The work generally takes a few hours for a handful of joints, longer for a whole elevation. Many homes in Scotland’s cities are tenement flats, reached through a shared close and up a common stair. In Northfield, it helps to know the floor, the door entry arrangements and the nearest parking.
- Each joint is checked and the colour of the new sealant agreed.
- Failed sealant is removed back to clean, sound faces.
- Backing rod goes in so the sealant can stretch between the two faces.
- Primer is applied wherever the sealant needs it.
- A low-modulus exterior sealant is gunned in and tooled to a neat finish.
How to prepare
- Mention if the joints have been sealed before
- Plan for the work area to be out of bounds to pets and children
- Tell us about access, such as stairs, a lift or high-level joints
Getting a quote
For a quick quote, get us on the phone, or send an email if you’d rather. Tell us about the joints that need doing and we’ll explain what’s involved.
Read more
Keeping the joints in good condition
So the new joints stay in good condition:
- Tell anyone working on the walls about the movement joints
- Do not let climbing plants root in the sealant
- Make sure movement joints are not pointed over
- Check external joints each spring
Make sure anyone working on the wall later knows where the movement joints are. They must stay as flexible joints, never rendered or pointed over.
A joint that has stopped moving pushes the movement elsewhere, generally as cracking in the brickwork or render nearby. Resealing it early helps prevent that.
What we cannot put right
We’d rather tell you now than do work that won’t last, so here’s what sealant can’t put right:
- Walls that need new movement joints cut into them
- Loose or hollow render, which needs re-rendering
- Subsidence or other structural problems
Not sure which it is? You can email us at info@mrmastic.co.uk and we’ll tell you honestly before booking.
Joints and surfaces we work on
- Render & cladding joints
- Joints between brick and frames
- Copings & trims
- Brickwork movement joints
- Façade panels
- Concrete & block
For landlords and businesses
If you manage several properties in or around Northfield, jobs at different addresses can go on one quote. Just tell us the addresses and what each one needs, and pictures by email help.
We regularly work with letting and managing agents. Send the address, what’s needed and the access arrangements and we’ll give you a quote.
Surface by surface
Joints between dissimilar materials
Each side of the joint may need its own preparation. Both surfaces are cleaned and primed as the product requires.
Copings and trims
Coping joints that leak let water straight down into the wall. Resealing them is a small job that protects a lot.