This one of our most recent projects in Helston. The customer had recently purchased this property which was suffering from damp problems due to the walls being covered in cement. Here are some pictures of the internal lime putty plastering and the external lime rendering ‘we also like icing cakes’… After doing such a great […]
Author Archives: Duncan Ridge
07
Dec
Dec
Cusgarne is a quiet village that sits in the middle between the towns of Redruth and Truro, about 6 miles from each town in South Cornwall. We were contacted by a new client who had been let down by his previous builder. Naturally we were happy to help to lime render this lovely property, in […]
31
Oct
Oct
One of the biggest factors of damp problems in old houses throughout Cornwall is the continued use of paint on top of the stonework. The paint does not allow the outside surface to breathe. I’m sure that when our Cornish ancestors built our already picturesque properties, they didn’t envisage their handiwork being covered up. So […]
16
Aug
Aug
Blisland is a small Cornish village with a population of less than 700. It lies 5 miles north-east of Bodmin. This is a typical postcard village similar to many throughout Cornwall and Devon with many building dating back hundreds of years. The heart of Blisland is the pub – The Blisland Inn. A popular drinking […]
17
Jun
Jun
This is a holiday cottage in the town of Helston, Cornwall. Although this is one of our smaller jobs, we nevertheless take pride in producing a first class finish. Please take a look at the images below for the finished results. Helston is perhaps most famous for the ‘Furry’ or Floral Dance held on the […]
03
May
May
Towancott Cottage is thought to be the oldest dwelling in Porthtowan, 8 miles from Truro Cornwall and dates back to the 1600s. This client wanted to rectify the damp problems on the gable end of their holiday cottages. The building is constructed of stone and rendered with sand and cement which means that water gets […]
09
Apr
Apr
This is a period house built of cob and stone. As with many properties built of this age, there has been water penetrating the current cement render over a long period. We have carefully removed the external top half of the gable to expose the original cob ready for the dubbing (Harling coat). The living […]
07
Mar
Mar
This period property in St Kew Cornwall had damp problems on the ground floor. Many properties of this age would not have had any damp proof membrane installed when originally built. To rectify this, we insulated it with recycled, foamed glass followed by an underfloor heating system and finally, a layer of Limecrete screed. This gives […]
21
Dec
Dec
In this short video, Duncan demonstrates ‘Dubbing Out’ using a technique known as Harling. The video shows the first of three coats of lime render going on. This helps the mortar bind to the stone work, which gives the next coat a decent key.
14
Dec
Dec
Here is our latest project.. A period cottage predominantly built from cob. It was in need of serious attention. The old cement render had to be removed enabling the property to breath. As you can see we came across a few problems with the cob structure cracking. Our solution to this was to run steels […]