Guides
Straight advice from someone who does the job
How to hire well, how to read a quote, what a good job looks like and what things cost. No sales pitch, no content team. Every word from a bricklayer with 22 years on the tools.
Read
How to find a tradesperson you can trust
A practical checklist for hiring a good tradesperson. How to get useful quotes, check real work, avoid the common traps and judge a reputation that has been earned rather than bought. Written by a bricklayer with 22 years on the tools.
How to spot a cowboy builder
The warning signs that a building job is about to go wrong. A plain-English list of cowboy builder red flags every homeowner should know before letting anyone start work. From a bricklayer with 22 years on the tools.
How to lay bricks for beginners
A step-by-step beginner's guide to laying bricks to a line from bricklayer Stu Crompton, whose how-to-lay-bricks video has over five million views. Mortar mix, gauging, laying to a line, perps and bonding, explained simply.
With videoHow to get a quote for a garden wall
What a bricklayer needs to know before they can price your garden wall, what should be in the quote, and how to compare two quotes that look nothing alike. From a bricklayer with 22 years on the tools.
What to ask a builder before you say yes
The questions that separate a builder who has thought your job through from one who hasn't. Ask them before you agree to anything, and pay attention to how they answer.
How to read a quote
Starting price, final price, site visits, VAT and deposits, explained in plain English so you know what you're agreeing to before any work starts.
How to post a job that gets good quotes
The photos, description and timing that get tradespeople quoting quickly and accurately. Five minutes on the post saves a week of back and forth.
Watch Stu work
Real jobs, filmed on site. Watch a wall, a step or a set of foundations go in from start to finish, so you know what a good one looks like before you pay for one.
Building New Brick Wall Pier Cap Design
11.7M views
Building a Brick Bench
6.6M views
Bricklaying Tips Clips
6.2M views
How To Lay Bricks For Beginners Using a line
5.2M views
Building a Curved Brick Wall
4.6M views
Building a Brick Wall from Start To Finish
4M views
Building Curved Brick Wall From Start to Finish
3.2M views
Bricklaying - Building Brick Arch feature
2.4M views
Laying Some Bricks Australia Style
2.4M views
Easy Brick Step From Start to Finish
2M views
How to lay bricks for beginner
1.6M views
Bricklaying - How To Do Foundations For House Extension
1.5M viewsWhat things cost
Guide ranges for the jobs people ask about most, with what drives the price and what a proper job includes. Guide figures only. The real price comes from a real quote.
- How much does a block paving driveway cost?£80 to £150 per square metre, laid
- How much does a garden brick wall cost?£1,200 to £2,400 per 6 metre by 1 metre single-skin wall
- How much does a house rewire cost?£4,000 to £8,500 per three-bedroom house
- How much does a new bathroom cost?£5,000 to £13,000 per bathroom, labour and materials
- How much does a new boiler cost?£2,000 to £4,500 per boiler, supplied and fitted
- How much does a patio cost?£80 to £160 per square metre, laid
- How much does chimney repair cost?£500 to £3,500 per chimney stack
- How much does plastering a room cost?£400 to £950 per average room, walls skimmed
- How much does repointing cost?£30 to £60 per square metre
- How much does single-storey extension brickwork cost?£6,000 to £15,000 per extension, brickwork only
Work it out yourself
Free calculators with the same maths as TradeCalc in the app: bricks, blocks, concrete, plaster, tiles, paint and more. Handy for checking a quote before you accept it.
Got a job that deserves doing properly?
Post it free. Quotes come to you, by email and in the app. No account, no fees, no fake reviews.
Your quotes land here and in the app.