Many older period properties in Cornwall are of stone with an earth mortar originally pointed with lime. Over the course of the previous century or more renovations have meant the introduction of cement mortars and renders in an effort to repair or modernise a building.
Unfortunately this has been to the detriment of many buildings where cracked cement based render traps moisture in the wall leading to damp issues and sometimes complete failure of the wall.
We specialise in removing the old cement render and allowing the moisture in the wall to evaporate before re-pointing or rendering in lime which allows for movement and the passage of water vapour.
The old pointing is mechanically chiselled out by hand. The depth should be twice the size as the width of the joint. The walls are then jet washed to remove any lose debris. Great care is then taken to trowel the new mix of lime and coarse sand firmly into the dampened joint and tamped with a stiff brush while it is drying to further push the mortar into the joint and increase the surface area of the new mortar for carbonation (curing)
It’s important to protect the new lime from extreme weather conditions with the use of hessian sheets while curing.
Some projects
