Mastic man in Wivenhoe

Resealing and mastic work across Wivenhoe

Wivenhoe’s old streets run down to the tidal River Colne, where the town once built ships and yachts. Above them, newer housing has spread up the hill and absorbed the old hamlet of Wivenhoe Cross, and the University of Essex sits in Wivenhoe Park just beyond. Mr Mastic covers Wivenhoe from our base in Crawley, resealing baths, showers, basins and kitchens, and replacing mastic around windows, doors and glazing.

The river matters to sealant. Damp air off the estuary and wind across open water work on outside joints, and older cottages with small bathrooms hold condensation. We remove old sealant fully, treat and dry the joint, and choose a product for where it is going. After a reseal, our guide on looking after new sealant explains how to keep it clean.

Conservation streets, shipyard housing and the hill

Much of lower Wivenhoe is a conservation area. Colchester’s heritage records describe two parts: an older core of vernacular buildings and irregular streets around the Quay and the former market place, and more formal nineteenth-century streets laid out in straight lines. High Street, West Street, Alma Street, Anchor Hill and The Quay hold many of the town’s listed buildings. In houses like these, walls and frames are rarely square, and a sealant needs to be flexible and neatly tooled to look right.

The shipbuilding sites have become housing. The Wivenhoe Shipyard, the last to work in the town, closed around 1961 and was later sold for nearly 300 homes. Cooks Shipyard became 98 houses and flats with offices and live/work units fronting the river. Waterside buildings like these have large windows and metal roofs, and their glazing and external joints face the weather head on.

Further up the hill, twentieth-century houses and estates fill the ground between the old town and Wivenhoe Cross. Bathrooms there are typically on their second or third refit, and replacement windows are at the age where the mastic has gone hard.

Our services in Wivenhoe

• 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: Window and door mastic that has dried out in the sun replaced with a weather-resistant joint that can move with the frame.
• Commercial & hotel sealant: Hotels, offices, washrooms and welfare areas resealed room by room, with out-of-hours working possible to arrange.
• Remedial sealant & repairs: Failed, botched or over-sealed joints stripped out, the cause found and the joint resealed properly.
• Fire-rated sealant: Fire-rated and intumescent sealant around gaps, frames and service penetrations, to the product’s tested details.
• External & façade joints: Brickwork movement joints, render and cladding joints resealed with backing rod and flexible exterior sealant.
• New-build mastic & snagging: Snagging sealant for new homes and plot-by-plot mastic for builders and developers.
• Floor & skirting joints: Skirting-to-floor gaps, tiled floor movement joints and concrete floor joints sealed with the right product.
• 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: Leaking gutter joints, end caps, fascia and soffit joints resealed with exterior sealant.
• Sand mastic for sash & case windows: Sash and case window surrounds in stone and brick re-pointed with traditional sand mastic.

Why Mr Mastic in Wivenhoe

Every joint we seal in Wivenhoe gets the same preparation, whether it is a cottage bathroom or a riverside balcony. Mr Mastic has more than 20 years’ experience, full insurance and ARBOMaster approved applicator status, and we use Arbo and Everbuild sealants. Our 2,847+ projects and 4.9-star Google rating from 180+ five-star reviews speak for the results. We set out a clear quote before starting and give a one-year guarantee on the finished work.

Around Wivenhoe

For trains, Wivenhoe station is closest to the centre. Local landmarks include Lion Walk (3.2 miles north-west), Wivenhoe Chapel Museum (less than half a mile east) and Colchester Castle (3.2 miles north-west). Around the centre, our work takes us to homes, rentals and businesses close to Millfields Primary School, Colchester Academy, Donyland Lodge and The Church of St Mary. Nearby green spaces include Cockaynes Wood.