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R 1850s Town House lime render

Restoration of a Victorian town house, curing damp problem

A damp problem turned into a complete render removal on this 1850's town house in west London. The damp was caused by the property having been rendered in cement, believed to have been applied in the 1970's. This render cannot breathe, and traps any moisture which may enter through the widespread cracks which are the usual accompaniment of cement render.

The render, mouldings and quoins were hacked off, and new lime render was applied. All mouldings were replaced to match the original ones, all run by hand in situ.

The quoins were re-created using lime mortar, and the whole house was decorated using a breathable paint.

Victorian town house Gallery

The lime render application

On removing the render it was clear that the bricks were a soft stock. A hard render cement render applied over soft bricks will allow moisture to enter, and then be absorbed by the bricks, creating wet walls. The way to resolve this in all cases is to apply a breathable lime render (no cement) . The modus operandi utilised was the norm for RJM, with materials and skills mirroring those used at the time of construction of the property. RJM have a strong ethic that in order to return such a property to it's former glory, tradition must be upheld in every aspect of the job. Skills used matched those used in the period, running the moulds in situ corners run free hand with traditional materials.