Crabtree Building Solutions

Crabtree Building Solutions Honest. Skilled. Reliable. Welcome to Crabtree Building Solutions.

I'm a qualified bricklayer and general builder of 20+ years.
📞 07496 253682
📧 [email protected]

This garage had an old, rusty corrugated metal roof with old timbers and insulation underneath that needed replacing. I ...
28/08/2026

This garage had an old, rusty corrugated metal roof with old timbers and insulation underneath that needed replacing. I stripped out the old framework and upgraded it with brand new, modern insulated corrugated metal sheets. Finished it with new fascias, and lead where needed. All part of the service. My customers roof will keep everything in their garage secure and dry for many years to come now.

Being a one man band meant I had to get creative to hoist each sheet up onto the roof by myself. Let’s just say the top of my head is feeling a bit sore after some of my lift methods! I reckon my customers would have had a good laugh watching me puzzle that one out.

Material prices have jumped significantly since I quoted this job, meaning I'll earn less than £200 for 2.5 days of hard graft, but for this one, I genuinely don't mind. Some people get dealt a really tough hand, and knowing I've been able to help my customer out when they needed it makes every bump, and bruise totally worthwhile.

I didn't get a 'before' photo of this one 🤦🏻‍♀️ Swipe to see progress and end photos.

Last weeks work was the removal and rebuild of two walls for another lovely family. At the end of these jobs, awkward ga...
24/08/2026

Last weeks work was the removal and rebuild of two walls for another lovely family.

At the end of these jobs, awkward gaps and voids in the tarmac along the front are often inevitable. Instead of just leaving them rough, I cut a clean line along the path and filled it back in with fresh tarmac. It does take a bit of extra time, but it makes a big difference to the final look. I finished everything off by re-attaching the wire and junction box neatly along the back of one wall.

Swipe to see the 'before' photos, which I surprisingly remembered to take!

I am booking work in for next year. I have jobs to confirm dates for and a few quotes to send out, so we're possibly looking at March time or later. If you’ve got a garden wall that’s looking tired or needs a full rebuild, get in touch.
Equally, do get in touch for any bigger projects.
I'm happy to meet with you, and then give a free no obligation quote.

Dan 👷‍♂️

Big milestone today. I picked up my new van!A business is only as good as its tools and reliability, and with my new van...
21/08/2026

Big milestone today. I picked up my new van!

A business is only as good as its tools and reliability, and with my new van, I can make sure I keep getting out to your projects on time.

Massive thanks to Connor at Ford, Gloucester for all his help getting it all sorted and in my hands. It's definitely not been smooth sailing! I've been borrowing a van from them for several weeks now whilst waiting for mine to be ready, and not once has he made me feel like I'm being a pain.

Give me a wave if you see me around. With this bright blue thing, I'll be difficult to miss! Sign-writing arriving soon, so watch this space 😃

Our children have gone away on Scout camp for the week so me and the wife are spending quality time together..... who am...
09/08/2026

Our children have gone away on Scout camp for the week so me and the wife are spending quality time together..... who am I kidding! Our tiny but main bathroom is finally getting the revamp it's been waiting for. We had a leak 18 months ago, which damaged things beyond repair, so it's time for a full reno in there. We're saying goodbye to the bath, and hello to a large 1700mm long shower instead. Reconfigured the layout (big thanks to Atlas heating & plumbing for doing the copper plumbing pipework for me a while back), and now I'm cracking on with the rest.

Here's where I'm up to at the end of the weekend. Next to do is tanking of just about everywhere!

Trust the process. Beautiful new bathroom incoming, I promise. We WILL have a useable main bathroom again before winter this year 🤣

After a very much needed week away with the family last week, it would have been easy to want to stay off for longer. No...
07/08/2026

After a very much needed week away with the family last week, it would have been easy to want to stay off for longer. Not when you love your job its not 😃

I can't believe it's Friday already. Swipe through to see some photos of the various jobs I've done for a lovely family this week. Excuse the photos being jumbled. The end results are the first few photos.

Keep scrolling for 'before' photos of the patio. I was surprised at the original colours that came up when it was washed!

1. Follow-up from Monday! Remember the bumpy floor and ant issue? The screed fully cured, so I laid a heavy-duty vapour-barrier membrane, fitted high-quality click-laminate floor, and fitted fresh skirtings. Now it's smooth, level, and all being well..... ant-proof!

2. The original attic hatch was positioned slightly over the stairs, making it very difficult to pull the ladder down properly and safely. I shifted the opening over to a safe spot, installed a new hatch door with trim, then boarded, scrim-taped, and plastered over the old opening.

3. I gave two patios a thorough jet wash to lift years of grime, then cleaned out the crumbling old grout, and re-laid a couple of loose slabs that were pooling water when it rained. Once it was all dried (left it til the next day to be sure), I finished the whole area off with Easy-Joint in 'Mushroom' shade. Highly recommend this stuff if you're looking to refresh a tired patio. It's easy to use, and it's really robust and great quality. Definitely doesn't cover the m² it recommends, so bare that in mind, but it's worth the expense to get a good result.

As always, thank you for your support.
My diary is booked up until at least the end of January as it stands, with a couple of jobs booked in for Spring time, so if you're looking for work to be done, please do get in touch.
I hate having to say no.

Thanks a lot

Dan 👷‍♂️

Despite my best efforts, keeping workwear looking "nice" for more than 24 hours is apparently impossible. Classic trades...
07/08/2026

Despite my best efforts, keeping workwear looking "nice" for more than 24 hours is apparently impossible. Classic tradesman problems?!

A massive thank you to Lindsey at Little Miss Bobbin for getting these made for me. They look top-notch and I really appreciate the great service!

Now, let's see how long I can keep these ones clean... place your bets! ⏱️

07/08/2026

Little Miss Bobbin

Go on.... what do you call these?! Laura and I both call them one thing, but Imogen and Austin call them something else!...
05/08/2026

Go on.... what do you call these?!

Laura and I both call them one thing, but Imogen and Austin call them something else! Is it a regional thing? We both grew up in Gloucester but moved away before the children were born so they've only lived here for 4 years.

One of the jobs for this weeks customer is to solve a tricky floor issue in the orangery they only had built around 6 ye...
04/08/2026

One of the jobs for this weeks customer is to solve a tricky floor issue in the orangery they only had built around 6 years ago. They were dealing with annoying floor bumps, uneven surfaces, and a recurring really bad ant problem along the perimeter that they couldn't resolve.

Pictures show where I'm up to, backwards to where i started.

When I stripped back the old surface, I found the root cause was that the timber flooring had been laid directly onto concrete in a lot of places. This allowed for zero airflow, creating a moisture trap, warping the boards, and giving ants a lovely breeding ground underneath.

I've taken a hefty approach, to make sure these issues never return 🙏

1. I removed all rotten timber, compromised subflooring, and skirtings right down to the clean concrete slab.
2. I treated the perimeter with targeted insecticide, injected expanding foam, and capped the whole perimeter with high-performance silicone to block any future ant entry routes.
3. Next, I applied an SBR bonding agent across the entire slab to bind dust and allow for best adhesion of screed.
4. I've then built up the floor by between 30mm and 50mm (different amounts in different areas!), eliminating bumps and matching the existing dining room floor height as the customer originally intended when they had the room built.

Now I'll crack on with other jobs at the property, whilst I wait for the screed to fully cure. Once that's done, I'll be laying a dedicated vapour-barrier membrane, installing quality click-laminate flooring, and fitting new skirting boards to put the room back to a usable space for this lovely family..... with no more unwanted visitors 🐜🐜🐜

I'll try to remember to take photos once it's all done 😉

Keep the enquiries coming!
My details are in the post, or on my page.

Thanks as always,
Dan 👷‍♂️

What started as a standard job turned into a bit of a mission! Scaffolding was erected for this job where I was planning...
30/07/2026

What started as a standard job turned into a bit of a mission! Scaffolding was erected for this job where I was planning to reduce the height of the chimneys, and cap them. When I got up there, I found that the chimney stack mortar was basically dust..... held together by habit and some hopes and dreams I think!

After talking through options with the homeowner, she decided to remove the stack to below the roof line. It took several hours longer than anticipated once I was able to get up there and fully assess the situation, but we got there! As usual, I tidied and cleaned up at the end of each block of hours I spent there.

I prepped the roof with new felt and battens, then slated it back over to make it 100% watertight. Clean, safe, and will last for many decades to come. The new slates will weather in naturally over time.

Address

Campden Road
Gloucester
GL40HX

Telephone

+447496253682

Website

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