Services we provide
- Condition assessment and conservation specification: Detailed site surveys, non-destructive inspection and laboratory analysis to produce a tailored repair strategy.
- Lime mortar repointing: Hand-applied, correctly specified lime mortars matched for strength, porosity, colour and joint profile.
- Indent brick repairs and brick replacement: Precision indents using matching reclaimed or specially fabricated units to preserve bond and appearance.
- Consolidation of friable brick faces: Low-impact consolidants and sacrificial facing techniques to stabilise powdering surfaces.
- Brick stitching and stitch repair: Stainless steel or compatible stitching systems to tie cracked masonry while minimising loss of historic material.
- Lime grout injection: Grout consolidation for delamination, hollow beds and void filling using breathable lime grouts.
- Sacrificial coats and shelter coats: Temporary lime-rich sacrificial surfaces or shelter coats to protect vulnerable masonry while longer-term works are planned.
- Cleaning using conservation-friendly methods: Gentle, tested cleaning techniques to remove harmful salts, biological growth and surface soiling without damaging tooling or masonry.
- Aftercare, monitoring and maintenance plans: Post-works advice, scheduled monitoring and bespoke maintenance regimes to ensure long-term performance.
Why conservation brickwork techniques matter
- Maintain breathability: Replacing impermeable cement mortars with appropriately graded lime mortars allows moisture and vapour movement, reducing trapped moisture and associated decay.
- Prevent further damage: Compatible repairs reduce salt migration, mitigates freeze/thaw cycling and prevents stress concentration caused by hard, non-porous mortars.
- Preserve authenticity: Matching mortar composition, colour, texture and joint profile retains historic appearance and tooling marks, conserving the building’s aesthetic and archaeological information.
- Extend service life: Targeted consolidation and localised interventions stabilise masonry and avoid unnecessary wholesale replacement, preserving as much original fabric as possible.
Key benefits
- Material compatibility: Use of hydraulic and non-hydraulic lime mortars selected to suit brick type and exposure reduces internal stresses and deterioration of soft or historic brickwork.
- Durable, reversible interventions: Correct mix design, sacrificial joints and traditional workmanship produce long-lasting, maintainable repairs that can be removed or reworked in the future.
- Minimal loss of original fabric: Indent repairs, grout consolidation and localised stitching retain original masonry and detailing.
- Compliance and assurance: Works prepared and executed to the requirements of conservation officers and listed building consents, with full supporting documentation.
Conservation & listed-building protocol
- Survey & analysis: Petrographic mortar analysis, salt testing, moisture mapping, and photographic condition recording to inform an evidence-led specification.
- Trial panels & approvals: On-site trial areas for mortar mixes, joint profiles, brick matching and finishing to secure stakeholder and conservation officer sign-off.
- Method statements & documentation: Detailed method statements, risk assessments, material data sheets, photographic records and as-built specifications supplied for the conservation archive.
- Minimum intervention & reversibility: All interventions follow principles of compatibility, reversibility where practicable, and the least intrusive approach to preserve future options.
Typical workflow
- Condition survey — comprehensive inspection, photographic record, mapping of defects, and identification of previous repairs and moisture/salt issues.
- Laboratory analysis & specification — mortar petrography, salt profiling and bespoke lime mortar mix design tailored to the masonry.
- Trial panels — mock-ups to confirm colour, texture, joint width/profile and brick matching for approval by client and conservation officer.
- Preparatory works — careful raking out of failed mortars, pre-cleaning using low-impact methods, temporary protection of adjacent features and scaffold or access set-up.
- Repair & repointing — hand-applied lime mortars, precision indents, grout consolidation, stitch repairs and finishing to approved profiles and tooling.
- Aftercare & monitoring — maintenance schedule, sacrificial coatings if required, and monitoring advice for moisture control and future repairs.
- Handover — full as-built documentation, mix recipes, photographic record, maintenance recommendations and any trial panel samples retained for archive.
Why choose us
- Conservation expertise: In-depth understanding of historic masonry, traditional mortars and the behaviours of varying brick types and stone.
- Skilled conservation masons: Operatives trained in hand-pointing, indenting, lime mortars, brick stitching and delicate detailing.
- Regulatory experience: Extensive experience preparing trial panels, method statements, specifications and documentation to satisfy conservation officers, archaeological advisors and listed building consents.
- Bespoke approach: Each project receives an evidence-based specification tailored to material, exposure, and the building’s significance.
Specification & site assessment requirements
To prepare a bespoke specification and costed proposal, please provide: brick type (e.g., soft red, machine-made, engineering, tuckpointed), description of existing mortar (lime, hydraulic lime, cement), known moisture or rising damp issues, visible salt staining or efflorescence, and any available historic records or drawings. We will then arrange a site visit, sampling plan and laboratory analysis as required.
Typical project examples
- Georgian terraced façades: Repointing with lime putty mortars matched to historic colour and joint profile; selective indents to replace spalled headers.
- Victorian civic buildings: Consolidation of friable faces, stitch repairs to cracked piers and lime grout injection of delaminated beds.
- Rural vernacular cottages: Breathable lime repairs, shelter coats and breathable repointing to protect soft handmade bricks and limewashed finishes.
- Listed chimneys and cornices: Precision indents, mortar matching and conservation detailing to preserve decorative mouldings.
Should you have any further questions or wish to discuss your specific lime rendering, external wall insulation, general rendering or flow screed project, please do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to working with you.
