AUTHENTIC LIME TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MODERN WORLD

For plastering and pointing our own-manufactured lime mortars are superior …

Lime Works provide their clients with a complete plastering and pointing solution, where traditional thinking and application techniques are blended with our specialist craft skills. Our own-manufactured mortars are far superior to any of the mass-produced materials. We carefully prescribe our mortar mix to suit each internal and external wall structure in today’s environment. In line with our fervent ecological beliefs all of our lime-based materials are eco-friendly and sustainable.

If soft lime is used, it is vital to also use a predominantly soft aggregate, with stronger inclusion for effect and weather resistance. If the aggregate consists of little but the stronger inclusions and soft lime, the material will simply become a capillary material, drinking in water when it rains. The water soluble lime content will migrate leaving nothing but sand. Modern ‘lime’ practices in the last decade or so, has been to use Hydraulic Lime. However, we do not believe that this material solves the capillary problems of saturation; and we have not seen any evidence that Hydraulic Lime coupled with sand, actually avoids failure! It is the writer’s opinion that our ancestors would hang their heads in horror and shame about some of the modern ‘lime’ practices and material combinations currently being applied in the industry.

Ultra smooth lime putty plaster and white lime wash, just completed in a late medieval Monmouthshire farmhouse. Compared to inferior sandy materials, the walls are warm to the touch and you can bang in a nail without destroying the plaster!

Pointing to avoid saturation requires bespoke materials…

All pointing materials must be softer than the building substrate. The type of lime and type of aggregates are crucial in this regard. The final strength should be as near as possible in strength to that substrate and yet remain sacrificial. As with renders – if the work is to be outside – the aggregate prescribed is critical. Pointing is particularly important as it stands alone and vulnerable to the weather in comparison to a continuous coat of render.

Sympathetically finished pointing for old buildings – the stone work wall shown here was lime washed giving a beautiful surface finish.

Lime Works Limited | Parks Farm | Cambridge | Gloucestershire | GL2 7AR