Mastic man in How Wood

Your local mastic man for How Wood

How Wood is a quiet residential village just south of Park Street, on the edge of St Albans, built up over what were once farm fields around Park Street Lane. Its homes are mainly family houses on estates, and the sealant jobs we see are the everyday ones that matter: the bath, the shower, the kitchen worktop and the windows. Mr Mastic covers How Wood from our base in Crawley.

There are no shortcuts in the way we work. The old sealant is cut out and scraped off, the joint is cleaned, any mould treated and the surface dried. Then a single bead goes on and is tooled smooth. Once it’s in, a little care keeps it looking good, and our guide to looking after new sealant has some simple tips.

Estate houses between the woods

How Wood is mostly housing estates, with the remains of How Wood itself and the larger Birch Wood between the houses and Burstone Manor Farm, a Grade II* timber-framed building with parts dating back to the twelfth century. The village has its own station on the Abbey Line between St Albans Abbey and Watford Junction, opened in 1988, a parade of local shops and How Wood Primary School.

Estate houses like these have usually had their bathrooms and kitchens replaced at least once, often more. Every refit leaves new joints, and some are sealed well and some aren’t. We often find a newer bead laid straight over an old one, which traps mould underneath and peels within months. Acrylic baths, common in refits, flex when filled, so the wall joint needs a sealant that can stretch.

Most homes here have replacement uPVC windows and doors. The mastic around them was probably laid when they went in, and after years of sun and frost it tends to go hard, shrink and pull away from the brick. Our window and door mastic page shows how we replace it.

Jobs we take on in How Wood

• Bathroom & kitchen resealing: Mouldy or split sealant around baths, shower trays, basins and sinks removed completely and replaced with a neat, hygienic bead.
• Window & door mastic: Hardened, gappy mastic around frames, sills and French or patio doors cut out and renewed to keep draughts and rain out.
• Commercial & hotel sealant: Commercial washrooms, kitchens and wet areas resealed floor by floor, so only a few rooms are out of use at once.
• Remedial sealant & repairs: Leaks and lifting beads from earlier sealant jobs put right, starting with finding out why they failed.
• Fire-rated sealant: Fire-rated sealant for service penetrations and frame gaps where it has been specified, applied to the tested details.
• External & façade joints: Expansion joints in brick, render and cladding cut out and renewed at the right depth so they can move without splitting.
• New-build mastic & snagging: Snagging sealant for new homes and plot-by-plot mastic for builders and developers.
• Floor & skirting joints: Movement joints in tiled and concrete floors, and skirting gaps, sealed so they stay tidy and keep dirt out.
• Regrouting: Tired or mouldy grout raked out and renewed, and the internal corners finished in flexible silicone.
• Glazing & conservatory sealant: Glass-to-frame joints on conservatories, rooflights and shower screens cut out and resealed.
• Gutter, fascia & soffit sealing: Exterior joints at gutters, fascias and soffits resealed to stop drips and staining down the wall.
• Sand mastic for sash & case windows: Traditional sand mastic for period windows and doors where a modern sealant would look out of place.

Why Mr Mastic in How Wood

How Wood families want a reseal done once and done right. Mr Mastic has 20+ years of experience behind it, full insurance and ARBOMaster approved applicator status, and we use Arbo and Everbuild sealants. We’ve completed more than 2,847 projects and hold a 4.9-star rating on Google from over 180 five-star reviews. There’s a clear quote before we start and a one-year guarantee when we finish.

Landmarks near How Wood

From the centre, the nearest railway station is How Wood station. Places most people will know nearby are Village Arcade St Albans (2.3 miles north), Hypocaust Museum (2.1 miles north) and Hilfield Castle (4.6 miles south). Closer in, we work on homes, rented flats and businesses near How Wood Primary and Nursery School, Marlborough Science Academy, Church of the Holy Trinity and The Falcon pub. Nearby green spaces include Broad Colney Lakes and Verulamium Lake.