Cwmbran was planned as a new town after the Second World War, and a lot of its streets were laid out with open-plan fronts: a strip of grass running from one house to the next with nothing in between. That looked tidy when the estates were new. Decades on, many Cwmbran households want a clearer edge to their own plot, somewhere to park off the road, or a back garden with a proper patio instead of a sloping lawn.
Brickwork is usually how those changes get made. Tony and the team build low front walls, drive piers, patio walls, raised planters and steps across Cwmbran, and repair older walls in the villages the town grew around. Have a look at our main brickwork and garden walls page for the full service, our Cwmbran landscaping page for the rest of what we do locally, or ask for a free quote.
Our six kinds of garden brickwork, and where each one tends to fit in a post-war new town.
A low wall along the front of an open-plan Cwmbran garden gives the house its own frontage, and building it in a facing brick close to the house brick makes it look as though it was always meant to be there.
Retaining walls in Cwmbran are usually modest, holding the bank at the back of an estate garden or the edge of a new parking bay cut into a sloping front, though the hillier streets can need something taller.
Steps come up where a front path meets a raised lawn or where a back garden rises away from the house, and on a Cwmbran semi a short, wide flight with a comfortable rise often replaces a slippery grass slope.
Brick dwarf walls around a patio, a built-in bench and raised beds for vegetables are some of the most popular brickwork we build in Cwmbran back gardens, especially for families who want tidy edges and play space.
Where a front garden in Cwmbran becomes a drive, a pair of brick piers at the entrance finishes the job and gives a gate something solid to hang from.
In the older parts of Cwmbran absorbed into the new town, stone and brick walls predate the estates, and repointing or rebuilding them in a matching style keeps that character intact.
A low wall is the most permanent way to mark out an open-plan front. It stops people cutting the corner across the lawn, keeps a planted border from being trodden on and gives the house a finished look from the road. Most of the ones we build in Cwmbran are two or three courses of facing brick on a concrete footing, topped with a coping or a row of bricks on edge to throw off the rain.
Before anything goes in, it is worth checking your deeds. Some new town estates were sold with covenants about keeping fronts open, and walls next to a road or footpath have tighter height limits than walls elsewhere. We are landscapers, not solicitors or planners, so check with Torfaen council and your paperwork first. Our local guide to building a low front wall in Cwmbran goes into the design choices, and redesigning an open-plan Cwmbran front garden looks at the whole frontage.
Turning a front lawn into parking is one of the most common requests we get in Cwmbran, and the brickwork is what makes it look considered instead of just paved over. Where the front slopes up from the pavement, the drive has to be cut in and a retaining wall built along each side to hold the lawn or the neighbour's ground. Where it is flat, a low wall and a pair of piers frame the entrance.
We plan the walls and the surface together, so the levels meet and rainwater runs where it should. The surface itself is covered by our patio paving in Cwmbran page, and the guide to adding off-road parking to a Cwmbran front garden covers dropped kerbs and drainage, which the council will want to know about.
Neat, well-founded walls that suit the house and the street.
We look for a facing brick and mortar colour close to your house, and our guide to choosing bricks and coping shows what we weigh up.
Even a two-course front wall gets a concrete footing, because that is what stops it cracking along the line of the lawn. Read about garden wall foundations.
Walls, drive, patio and fencing in Cwmbran can be planned in one visit so everything lines up.
Tony and the team are just up the road in Pontypool, and the visit and quote cost nothing.
Many Cwmbran back gardens are a rectangle of lawn behind a semi, sometimes with a gentle rise towards the far fence. A low brick wall along the edge of a new patio turns that slope into a level terrace, and adding a wider coping lets it double as extra seating when the family is out there. Raised beds at the same height carry the line on round the garden.
Brick planters are easy to look after and keep soil off paths, which is why families often ask for them. We build them with gaps for drainage and a membrane inside, so the brickwork is not sitting in wet soil year round. See building brick raised beds and planters for how they are put together and patio extension ideas for Cwmbran semis for layouts that work with them.
Real reviews from homeowners across Cwmbran — rated 4.8 out of 5 on Google from 69 reviews and 10/10 on Checkatrade.
“Had my patio done by the company and could not be happier. Top quality work done and quickly too.”
“I was pleased to find Tony and his lads were absolutely great! Tony responded quickly & was very polite.”
“We were delighted with the work and materials, which were of very high quality. Tony and team helped us.”
Local and practical guides to help you plan the work.
One team for the whole garden, so a single visit can price everything you have in mind.
We cover Cwmbran and the towns around it. Choose another area below.
T J Landscapes South Wales
24 Conway Road, Pontypool
Torfaen, NP4 6HL
We cover homes right across South Wales, from Cardiff and the coast up to the valleys and the Brecon Beacons.
Often, but not always. Some estates have covenants in the deeds about keeping fronts open, and walls beside a road or footpath have height limits. Check your deeds and ask Torfaen council before you commit, and we can help you work out what to ask.
We can usually get close. Many estate houses were built with common brick types of their day, and there are modern facing bricks in similar colours and textures. We bring samples to hold against the house before you choose.
The length and height, the depth of footing, the brick and coping you pick, whether any of it retains soil, and whether an old hedge, wall or lawn has to be removed first. We give free, clear quotes, so get in touch.
Yes. Some parts of Cwmbran were villages long before the new town, with stone and brick walls to match. We repoint, replace damaged bricks or stone and rebuild leaning sections in a mortar that suits the old work.
It depends on the length, the ground and the weather, since mortar should not be laid in hard frost or heavy rain. We give you a realistic idea of timing with the quote, and tidy up each day while the work is going on.
Tell us whether it is a front wall, drive piers, a patio wall or a repair, and roughly the size, and we will arrange a visit in Cwmbran.
