Masonry and bricklaying work spans everything from a garden wall to repointing a period property. The businesses that do well price these very differently instead of using one flat approach for both.
Get mortar matching right before you quote, not after
A property built with lime mortar quoted against a standard cement mix is the single most common source of bricklaying complaints, because mismatched pointing is highly visible and hard to reverse. State your mortar approach explicitly, and price a sample-matching visit as its own line for older or period properties.
Choose day rate or per-m² pricing based on the job, not habit
Day rate suits irregular work, like extensions, repairs, or chimney jobs, where the scope does not break down cleanly into square metres. Per-m² reads as more rigorous for straight runs of new-build or garden walling, where a customer can sanity-check your figure against a builders' merchant's brick count. Decide per job, not as a fixed policy.
Never commit to a fixed start date for weather-dependent work
Render repair and pointing both depend on dry conditions to cure properly. A line in your standard terms, such as "weather-dependent work may be rescheduled at short notice for frost or heavy rain," protects you without making your quote look uncommitted. It is a standard enough caveat that customers rarely push back on it.
Price scaffolding or tower access separately from the bricklaying itself on any chimney or high-level job. Customers comparing quotes for the same job are sometimes comparing one figure that includes access and another that does not.
Keep a materials sample record for every period property
A small labelled sample of the mortar mix and brick match used on each job, kept even after the job is finished, makes any future repair or extension to the same wall far easier to match correctly. It is the kind of detail that quietly earns repeat work from the same customer years later.
Separate access costs from the bricklaying itself
Scaffolding or tower hire for chimney or high-level work is a real, variable cost that has nothing to do with your skill as a bricklayer. Price it as its own line, and a customer comparing your quote against a competitor's is comparing complete figures, not accidentally comparing one number that includes access against one that quietly does not.
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