Most of what we do at Around The House never makes it onto a brochure. It happens on site, in the dust and noise, between the first line of paint marked on the ground and the day a family walks back into a finished home. We pulled together a set of recent photos from jobs across Cape Town — brickwork and foundations, demolition and structural changes, plastering and new floors, and a run of roof repaints — so you can see the actual work rather than stock images. Every photo below is from one of our own sites.
Brickwork and Foundations
Good building starts underground. Before a single brick goes up we set out the footprint, check levels and get the foundations right, because everything above ground depends on it. On sloped Cape Town plots — and there are plenty — that groundwork takes longer than people expect, but it is not the place to cut corners.
These shots run from a fresh set-out with the profile lines marked, through reinforced foundations and rising brick and block walls, to a face-brick boundary wall on a sloped site. It is the unglamorous half of building, and the half that decides whether a wall is still straight in ten years.
Whether it is a garden wall, an extra room or the base for a full second storey, the brickwork stage is where a project either stays on plan or starts drifting. If you are weighing up an extension, our renovations page covers how we scope and price this kind of work.
Demolition and Structural Changes
Opening up a poky 1970s layout is one of the most common requests we get, and it is also the one that goes wrong most often in the wrong hands. Knocking out a wall is easy; knowing which walls are holding the roof up is the part that matters. Every internal wall we remove gets propped properly and, where it is load-bearing, a steel beam goes in before anything comes down.
The photos here show interiors stripped back to brick, walls taken out to create open-plan living, temporary props holding the structure while a new opening is formed, and rubble being cleared as we go. It looks messy in the middle — it always does — but this is controlled demolition, not a wrecking ball.
Plastering and Flooring
Once the structure is settled, the finishes decide how the place actually feels to live in. Plastering and floors are where a building site starts turning back into a home, and they are the stages where sloppy work shows up fastest — a wavy wall or an uneven screed is something you notice every single day.
You can see the full run here: floor screed being laid and levelled, walls and exteriors plastered, and finished rooms with fresh flooring and clean lines. One of these is a double-storey home after we plastered and painted the outside; another is the same kind of interior a few weeks later, floors down and ceilings finished.
Plastering and painting tend to travel together on our jobs, which is why the two overlap in these photos. If a repaint is all you are after, the painting services page has the detail on that side of the work.
Roof Painting and Coating
Cape Town roofs take a beating — summer sun, then the driving winter rain off the Atlantic. A tired roof is usually the first thing that dates a house from the street, and a proper repaint or coating buys years before anything more serious is needed. We prep, treat problem spots and then coat, rather than just rolling paint over dirt and hoping.
Here you can see a terracotta tile roof brought back to life in a warm red, charcoal coatings on IBR and corrugated metal roofs, and the in-progress shots — a coat going on by hand, one section at a time. Roof colour is also the cheapest way to change how a whole house reads, which is why so many of these pair with an exterior repaint.
If your roof is more leak than looks at this stage, it is worth reading our guide on waterproofing in Cape Town before deciding between a coat of paint and a proper repair.
Work Across Cape Town
These projects are spread across the city and the surrounding suburbs, from the Southern Suburbs through to the Atlantic Seaboard and out towards the northern areas. We work as building contractors right across Cape Town, and most jobs pull in several of the trades above at once — a renovation rarely stays in a single lane. You can see the areas we cover on our services pages, or check whether we are already working in your suburb.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you handle a whole project, or just one trade?
Both. We run full renovations end to end — foundations, demolition, plastering, floors, roofing and paint — but we are also happy to take on a single job, like a roof repaint or a boundary wall, if that is all you need.
Is removing an internal wall safe in an older Cape Town home?
It is, as long as it is done properly. We check whether a wall is load-bearing before touching it, prop the structure while we work, and fit a steel beam or lintel to carry the load where one is needed. The messy middle stage in the photos is always temporary.
How long does a roof repaint take?
A straightforward home roof is usually a few days, depending on size, pitch, the state of the surface and the weather. We prep and treat the roof first, so the timeline includes more than just the coats of paint.
Can I see work you have done near me?
Yes — get in touch and we will point you to recent jobs in your part of Cape Town. The quickest way to start is a free quote, which includes a site visit so we can look at your specific project.
Thinking About a Project of Your Own?
If any of this looks like the kind of work you have been putting off, we would rather talk it through than sell you on it. Send us the details and a few photos of your own, and we will come out, take a look and give you an honest quote. Start on our quote page or head to the contact page to reach the team directly.
