In short
Older solid wall buildings were built to let water in and let it back out again, and lime mortar is the part that lets them do it. Sealing one up with modern cement traps moisture inside the wall, and the damage comes out through the brick or the stone instead of the joint. Lime work is repairing those buildings the way they were meant to be repaired.
Signs you need lime work
- A solid wall property built before roughly 1919, with no cavity
- Damp inside that got worse after the outside was repointed or rendered
- Cement pointing that has cracked away and is sitting proud of eroded brick
- Brick or stone faces spalling while the mortar joints stay hard
- Render that has blown and sounds hollow when tapped
- A building that is listed or in a conservation area
What the job involves
Establish what the wall actually is
Solid or cavity, brick or stone, and what has already been done to it. This decides everything else.
Take the cement off carefully
Hard cement usually has to come out before anything else can happen, and it has to come out without taking the arris of the brick with it.
Mix to suit the building
Lime is not one material. The mix, the aggregate and the strength are chosen for the wall in front of us and the exposure it gets.
Apply and protect
Lime needs to be kept damp and kept off frost while it cures. It is covered and dampened rather than left, which is the step most often skipped.
Let it carbonate
Lime gains its strength slowly over weeks. We will tell you what to expect and what it should look like as it goes off.
Want someone to take a look?
Send a photograph of the problem and you will get a straight answer on what it needs, at no cost.
Lime Work near you
Frequently asked questions
Why use lime instead of cement?
Lime is softer than the brick or stone around it and it lets moisture evaporate out of the wall. Cement is harder and closes the wall up. On an old solid wall building, cement moves the damage from the joint, which is cheap to repair, into the masonry, which is not.
Is lime work more expensive?
It usually takes longer, both to apply and to cure, and it needs protecting while it goes off. On the right building it costs less over twenty years than doing it twice in cement.
How long does lime take to cure?
It sets slowly and gains strength over weeks rather than days. That is normal, and it is why the protection stage matters.
Is lime work only for listed buildings?
No. Any solid wall building without a cavity is usually better off in lime, listed or not. Listing changes what consents you need, not what the wall wants.
My house was repointed in cement. Does it all have to come off?
Not always, and not always at once. We will look at what damage it is actually doing and give you an honest order of priority rather than quoting the whole house on day one.