Edinburgh · Scotland
South Portobello External Mastic
Professional external mastic in and around South Portobello, with every bit of old sealant taken out first.
- Joints with sealant missing in places
- Rigid filler in a joint that should flex
- Weeds or debris growing in open joints
What we do, step by step
When we get to you, we check the joints match what you told us. If we find something unexpected, we talk it through with you first. Most jobs then take anything from a few hours to several days, depending on the building. Parking in city streets around South Portobello can be tight or controlled, so it helps to know about permits or nearby bays. For flats, mention the door entry system and any shared-stair arrangements.
- 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.
- We prime the faces where required.
- A low-modulus exterior sealant is gunned in and tooled to a neat finish.
Preparing for the visit
- Mention any tricky access
- Mention any leaks or damp you’ve noticed
- For business premises, tell us about site rules or sign-in
How to get a quote
Need a quote? Please email us at info@mrmastic.co.uk and tell us about the job. We will explain what we’d do and give you a clear price before we start.
Advice
External mastic in South Portobello, done properly
Movement joints let brickwork, render and cladding expand and shrink without cracking. The sealant in it has to stretch and squeeze for years, so once it splits or hardens, the joint stops working and water gets in. We work on render & cladding joints, brickwork movement joints and copings & trims, and people most often call us about sealant that has lost its bond to the brick or render and leaking joints around cladding and façade panels.
Stone-built tenements in Scotland’s cities share their roof, gutters and outside walls between every flat in the building. In South Portobello, work on shared parts of a tenement is usually agreed between owners, often with a factor arranging it.
All our work comes with a 12-month guarantee.
- Place
- South Portobello (EH15, EH8, EH7)
- Wider area
- Edinburgh
- Guarantee
- 12 months on all our work
- Quote
- Quoted before any work starts
- info@mrmastic.co.uk
- Updated
- 26 October 2026
How to look after the new joints
After the cure time, these simple habits help:
- Wash walls gently around the sealant
- Act on the first splits you see
- Check the sealant is paintable before painting near it
- Tell anyone working on the walls about the movement joints
Look over the joints once a year, ideally after winter. Watch for splits, edges coming away or growth in the joint.
Once a joint can’t move, the wall finds another way, normally as cracking in the brickwork or render nearby. Resealing it early helps prevent that.
Why it’s worth doing now in South Portobello
Sealing over the top of old mastic does not hold for long. New sealant does not bond well to old, weathered sealant, so the old joint is cut out fully first. Wind-driven rain gets into any failed joint on the outside of a city building, and in a tall building in South Portobello, damp can travel a long way before it shows.
Instead of a standard rate, we look at what your job involves: how many joints, what’s in them now and how we reach them. The price is agreed before we begin.
Why South Portobello clients choose us
- 20+ years of sealant experience
- Colour agreed with you before work begins
- We leave the area clean and tidy
- Old sealant always removed completely
Read how sealant jobs are priced and our reviews.
Places near South Portobello
More services for South Portobello
Work for landlords, hotels and businesses
In hotels, rooms out of use cost money, so we plan the work room by room around your bookings where we can. Hotel work is part of what we do, alongside homes and businesses.
Failed sealant is one of the commonest items on a check-out report, and it’s easy to sort out between tenants. Several properties can go on one quote.
Do you need external mastic in South Portobello?
If plants are growing out of a joint, the sealant has generally failed or was never there. Dirt and roots then trap moisture in the joint and make things worse.
Look out for these signs:
- Weeds or debris growing in open joints
- Damp patches traced to an open external joint
- Failed sealant between panels on a façade
- Weathered mastic that no longer stretches
Schools such as Portobello High School are buildings too, and its movement joints, gutters and trims need looking after like any other building’s.
Comparing quotes
- Which sealant they’ll use, and why
- How the surfaces are prepared before sealing
- What happens if the job turns out different
- Who turns up on the day
External mastic in South Portobello: local notes
South Portobello is within about 1 mile of the coast, where wind-driven rain is a fact of life and, nearer the shore, so is salt air. That is hard on movement joints and outside wall joints, especially on the side facing the sea. Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Georgian New Town is known for its sash windows. For listed homes and conservation areas, check with the council before changing how windows or walls look.
Rented homes near Brunstane station change hands often, and outside joints that have cracked can let damp into a rental, so check them between lets. For an older house near a landmark such as St John the Evangelist RC Church, older walls, gutters and the joints where extensions meet them need a flexible sealant.
South Portobello is about 3 miles east of Edinburgh, in Edinburgh. South Portobello gets the same service as everywhere we cover: the old material taken out, joints prepared properly and a 12-month guarantee. We cover 175 towns and villages across Edinburgh, large and small.
We cover every part of the EH15, EH8 and EH7 postcode area for external mastic. External mastic is available to properties on Hope Lane, Pipe Lane and Beach Lane and the roads around them. We also cover the places around South Portobello: Magdalene (1 mile south), Mountcastle (1 mile west), Brunstane (1 mile east), Northfield (1 mile west) and Bingham (1 mile south). Further out, we also cover Edinburgh (3 miles west), Leith (3 miles north-west), Bonnington (3 miles north-west), Greenside (3 miles west), Broughton (3 miles west) and Bellevue (3 miles west).
Around South Portobello
Around South Portobello, our work takes us to homes and buildings near Abercorn Park, Portobello Library and 47 Figgate Lane pub, among other places. The closest station to South Portobello is Brunstane station, roughly 0.8 miles south-east of the centre. A little further out are Craigmillar Castle (1.8 miles south-west) and Cameron Toll Shopping Centre (2.3 miles south-west). Open spaces near South Portobello include Whinny Hill and Duddingston Loch.
DIY versus a professional finish
Not every job suits DIY: work at height, external movement joints, fire-rated sealant and large areas call for the right materials, safe access and experience.
Too much sealant is as bad as too little. A thick, smeared bead looks untidy and doesn’t move well, and getting the depth right matters as much as the look.
FAQs for South Portobello
Can you help a landlord with a rental near Brunstane station?
Yes, landlords and agents are among the people we work for, and several properties can go on one quote. You can send an email to info@mrmastic.co.uk with the details for a clear quote.
Does the coastal weather in South Portobello affect outside sealant?
Coastal weather is harder on outside sealant: there’s more wind-driven rain and, closer to the shore, salt in the air. The right product, a clean joint and the right depth all help it cope.
What should I tell you?
Just the basics: the address or postcode, what’s wrong and any access issues. Then email us at info@mrmastic.co.uk.
Is it messy?
No. We protect the surfaces around the joints, and we clear up the old sealant and our materials before we leave.
Do you remove the old sealant?
Always. Sealing over the old bead is the commonest cause of early failure, and it’s something we never do.
Do I need to be at home?
That depends on where the joints are. For work indoors, someone needs to let us in, and for outside work we will agree access with you when we book.
Do you have insurance?
Yes. Mr Mastic is fully insured, with over 20 years’ experience in sealant work.
Can you match the colour of my brickwork?
Exterior sealants are made in a range of colours, from greys and browns to whites and stone shades. We pick the one that suits your wall best so the joint doesn’t draw the eye.
What affects the cost of external mastic
We do not publish a price list, because no two jobs are the same. What we look at:
- Any working-time requirements on site
- Mould in or behind the old joints
- How much old sealant there is and how hard it is to remove
- The type of sealant required
We don’t show prices on the website, because the cost depends so much on the job itself. Call for a quick quote.
Helping us quote
You don’t need to know the technical terms. It helps if you can tell us:
- Pictures of the joints, sent by email
- The rough size of the job
- The type of property
- Where the property is
It all starts with a short chat. Tell us what’s wrong, where it is and how much there is, and we’ll explain how we’d tackle it. Whenever you’re ready, send an email to info@mrmastic.co.uk.