Greater London · England
External Mastic in Wapping
Sealing brickwork movement joints, render, cladding and façade joints for Wapping, backed by a one-year guarantee. Ask us for a quote.
- Movement joints with cracked, split or missing sealant
- Rigid filler in a joint that should flex
- Failed seals between different materials
How to look after the new joints
To keep the joints looking good and working properly:
- Walk round the building once a year and look at the joints
- Never let anyone fill a movement joint with mortar
- Fix overflowing gutters above sealed joints
- Show decorators and builders where the movement joints are
Avoid pressure-washing straight into the joints. High-pressure water can lift the edges.
Water getting behind cladding or render can go unnoticed for a long time. By the time there’s a damp patch, the damage can be well established.
External mastic in Wapping, done properly
For buildings in Wapping, we reseal external joints of all kinds, from brick movement joints to cladding panels. Every joint gets the same careful preparation: clean, sound faces and a controlled depth. Typical jobs include moss and dirt in joints with no sealant left and cracked joints where brick meets render or frames, on joints between brick and frames, façade panels and render & cladding joints.
In London terraces and converted houses, gutters and walls are often shared with the house next door, so a leaking gutter joint or failed wall joint can affect more than one home. For a flat in Wapping, check the lease for who looks after the outside.
All our work is covered by a 12-month guarantee.
- Place
- Wapping (E1, E1W, SE16)
- Region
- Greater London
- Guarantee
- One year on every job
- Quotes
- Quoted before any work starts
- Phone
- 0345 464 0079
- Last updated
- 26 October 2026
How it works
When we arrive, we start by going over the job with you. Surfaces next to the work are protected before work begins. The work normally takes anything from a few hours to several days, depending on the building. Many London jobs are in flats, so we come ready for stairs, narrow hallways and shared entrances. Mention any building rules, key holders or managing agents when you book.
- Each joint is checked and the colour of the new sealant agreed.
- We take out the old sealant until the faces are sound.
- Closed-cell backing rod is pushed in so the sealant bonds to two sides only.
- We prime the faces where required.
- We gun in low-modulus sealant and tool it neatly.
Before we arrive
- Mention any leaks or damp you’ve noticed
- Clear items away from the joints we are working on
- Let us know about stairs, lifts or work at height
Get a quote
Want a quote for external mastic? Please call 0345 464 0079 or drop us an email with a few details. We’ll explain what we’d do and send you a clear quote before we start.
Related advice
Surface by surface
Copings and trims
Metal and stone copings both move with temperature, so a flexible sealant suits them best year round.
Joints between dissimilar materials
Where a frame or panel meets masonry, water often finds a way in. We cut out the old sealant and reseal with a product suited to both surfaces.
Questions from Wapping
Is parking an issue for external mastic in Wapping?
In much of London, parking needs planning: a visitor permit or a nearby bay makes the day run more smoothly.
I let a flat near Wapping station. Can you help?
Yes, we work for letting agents and landlords. Just phone 0345 464 0079 or email us and tell us about the property, and we will give you a clear quote.
Do you guarantee your work?
Yes, always. There’s a 12-month guarantee on every job, large or small.
Can I do it myself?
For a simple, easy-to-reach joint, a careful DIYer can do a reasonable job. Most DIY failures come from sealing over old material, wet joints or too much sealant.
Is it OK to fill a movement joint with cement?
No, not if it’s a movement joint. Filling it with mortar defeats its purpose. A flexible sealant is the right fill.
Which products do you use?
It depends on the joint: sanitary silicone where it gets wet, and sealants suited to movement or weather elsewhere. We use products from Arbo and Everbuild.
Do you use backing rod?
Closed-cell backing rod sets the depth of the sealant and stops it sticking to the back of the joint. Then the sealant bonds to two faces and can move.
Do you have insurance?
Yes, we’re fully insured for domestic and commercial work.
Common problems we fix in Wapping
Weeds, moss and debris in a joint are a sign the sealant has gone. Roots and dirt hold water against the wall and speed up the damage.
The most common problems we see are:
- Rigid filler in a joint that should flex
- Brick movement joints where the sealant has split
- Water getting into walls through failed joints
- Panel joints letting water in
Managing a site like St Mellitus College? Then larger buildings have long runs of movement joint that eventually need resealing.
What to look for in a quote
- Whether they seal over old material or remove it
- How long to leave it before use
- How the joint is cleaned and prepared
- What product goes in the joint
External mastic in Wapping: local notes
The South East is one of the drier parts of the UK, though outdoor sealant still has to go onto a dry joint, so the forecast decides the day. London terraces and converted houses often share gutters, downpipes and walls, so it’s worth agreeing who is responsible before work starts.
If you live in an older home near St Peter's, an extension built onto an older house moves differently, and the joint between them takes the strain. If you let a flat or house near Wapping station, split movement joints are easy to miss on a rental until damp shows inside.
Wapping is about 1 mile south-east of Whitechapel, in Greater London. Across the E1 area, we cover external mastic for homes and businesses. Wapping is one of 764 towns and villages in Greater London where we work.
Postcode districts we cover here for external mastic: E1, E1W and SE16. Streets in the area include West Lane, Tunnel Road and Glamis Road. Being close to the A101 and A1210, Wapping is easy for our applicators to reach for external mastic. Neighbouring places we cover for external mastic include St George in the East (1 mile north-west), East End of London (1 mile north-east), Shadwell (1 mile east), Whitechapel (1 mile north-west) and Ratcliff (1 mile east). Larger places within reach include City of Westminster (4 miles west), Marylebone (4 miles west), Kensington (6 miles west), St Pancras (3 miles north-west), Walthamstow (6 miles north) and Hampstead (6 miles north-west).
What’s near Wapping
Locally, jobs take us to homes and businesses close to Town of Ramsgate pub, William Curtis Ecological Park and Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives. You’ll also find St Mary-at-Hill (1 mile west), Mulberry School for Girls (0.5 miles north) and Hermitage Primary School (less than half a mile south-west). There’s a railway station in Wapping itself: Wapping station. Well-known places in the area include The Royal London Hospital (0.7 miles north) and Tower of London (0.7 miles west). The countryside around Wapping includes St. James's Park Lake and Tower Hill.
Can I do it myself?
Not every job suits DIY: high-level joints, fire-rated gaps, external movement joints and big jobs need the right product, the right access and the right method.
If you are set on DIY, put the effort into preparation: take out all the old sealant, make sure the joint is clean and dry, and give it the full cure time. If it fails, we can still redo it.
Nearby places to Wapping
Also in Wapping
When it is not the sealant
To be straight with you, some problems need a different trade:
- Subsidence or other structural problems
- Cracked brickwork or render that needs a builder or plasterer
- Rising or penetrating damp from elsewhere in the wall
If in doubt, call 0345 464 0079 or email us and we’ll say what we think before you book.
Where we work in Wapping
- Joints between brick and frames
- Concrete & block
- Copings & trims
- Façade panels
- Brickwork movement joints
- Render & cladding joints
What affects the cost of external mastic
We don’t publish a price list, because jobs vary so much. The quote depends on:
- The product the joint needs
- The number of rooms or windows
- How easy the joints are to reach
- Working hours on commercial sites
No two jobs are quite the same, so each one gets its own quote. The number of joints, how easy they are to reach and the sealant needed all make a difference.
What we need to know
To help us quote quickly, let us know:
- Whether it has been sealed before
- What the problem is, such as mould, gaps, leaks or cracking
- Whether it’s a home or a business
- How many joints, rooms or windows are involved
To get a quote, phone 0345 464 0079 or send us an email with the location and a short description of the problem. You’ll have a clear quote before work begins.