Mastic man in Harwich

Resealing and mastic work across Harwich

Harwich is surrounded by water on three sides, and its buildings take the weather from almost every direction. Window and door mastic here works harder than it would inland, drying, cracking and letting in rain on the exposed faces of houses in the Old Town and along the Dovercourt seafront. Mr Mastic covers Harwich and Dovercourt from our base in Crawley.

We cut out failed external mastic and replace it with flexible, weatherproof sealant, and inside we reseal baths, showers, basins and kitchens. Old sealant always comes out completely before anything new goes on. Our guide to window mastic explains why it fails and what a good joint should look like.

A medieval street plan and a Victorian resort

The Old Town keeps its medieval street plan, with main streets linked by narrow alleys and buildings on small plots. Many are medieval or later timber-framed houses, but most were refronted in the Georgian period with red brick, sash windows and decorative doorways. Some are rendered in pastel colours, weatherboarding is painted black or white, and roofs are pantile or slate. The conservation area holds 150 listed buildings and structures, including a sailmaker’s house thought to date from around 1600.

Lower Dovercourt was developed from the mid-19th century as a seaside resort, planned by John Bagshaw, though only Orwell Terrace was built to his masterplan. Kingsway has red-brick Victorian terraces with two-storey bays and was built up by the 1920s, Victoria Street has colourful Victorian terraces and Orwell Road has grand rendered ones. Sash windows are typical, though some have been replaced with uPVC.

Bays are hard on mastic. Each one has several frames, a sill and a roof joint, and on a seaside street they face the worst of the weather. We check every joint, not just the obvious cracks.

Jobs we take on in Harwich

• Bathroom & kitchen resealing: Bathroom and kitchen joints taken back to a clean, dry surface and finished with fresh anti-fungal silicone that won’t lift.
• Window & door mastic: Cracked or shrunken mastic around window and door frames, sills and patio doors replaced with a weatherproof sealant.
• Commercial & hotel sealant: Sealant programmes for offices, hotels, care settings and schools, with early or late working where it helps.
• Remedial sealant & repairs: Leaks and lifting beads from earlier sealant jobs put right, starting with finding out why they failed.
• Fire-rated sealant: Gaps in fire-separating walls and floors sealed with fire-rated products, following the tested details for each one.
• External & façade joints: Outside movement joints given new backing rod and a flexible, weatherproof sealant in a colour to match the wall.
• New-build mastic & snagging: Early-failing sealant in new homes fixed properly, plus mastic packages and snagging for developers.
• Floor & skirting joints: Gaps under skirting boards, tile movement joints and concrete floor joints sealed with a product that suits the traffic.
• Regrouting: Crumbling grout in showers and wet areas raked out and refilled, so water stays out of the wall behind.
• Glazing & conservatory sealant: Conservatory, rooflight, glass panel and shower screen joints resealed with glazing silicone.
• Gutter, fascia & soffit sealing: Dripping gutter joints and end caps, and gaps at fascias and soffits, sealed with weatherproof exterior sealant.
• Sand mastic for sash & case windows: Old sand mastic around sash windows and doors raked out and renewed with traditional burnt sand mastic.

Why Mr Mastic in Harwich

Seaside sealant has to be done properly or it won’t last a winter. Mr Mastic has more than 20 years’ experience and has completed over 2,847 projects. We’re fully insured, ARBOMaster approved and use Arbo and Everbuild sealants suited to exposed joints. Our customers have left 180+ five-star reviews for a 4.9-star Google rating. You’ll have a clear quote before we start and a one-year guarantee once we’re done.

Landmarks near Harwich

The nearest station to the town centre is Dovercourt station. Places most people will know nearby are Harwich Museum (1.3 miles north-east) and Landguard Fort (2.5 miles east). Typical jobs near the centre are in homes and businesses around St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Harwich and Dovercourt High School, Church of All Saints and The Trafalgar Public House. Nearby green spaces include Copperas Wood.