Mortars & Renders
Firms in this category apply and supply external renders and mortars for traditional buildings: lime render and harling, roughcast, pargeting and decorative render, and the removal of cement coatings applied in the twentieth century. A render on an old wall is a sacrificial, breathable coat that sheds water while letting the wall dry. Cement render does the opposite, cracking and trapping water behind an impermeable skin, which is why so much remedial work now involves taking it off. Work here often overlaps with lime plastering internally and with masonry repair beneath the render.
What this category covers
- Lime render, harling and roughcast to solid walls
- Removal of cement render and remedial coatings
- Pargeting and decorative external plasterwork
- Mortar matching and bespoke mixes for repair
- Limewash and mineral finishes over render
Anglia Lime Company
LIME PLASTERS, MORTARS AND RELATED PRODUCTS: Anglia Lime Company, established in 1992, ...
Inspire Building Specialists Ltd
Inspire Building Specialists (IBS Ltd) is an Oxfordshire builder based at Horton-cum-Studley, ...
JH Building Restoration Ltd
JH Building Restoration Ltd is a heritage restoration and refurbishment contractor based ...
Old Stone & Timber Ltd
Old Stone & Timber restores, conserves and sympathetically renovates period and listed ...
Organic By Design
Organic By Design is a heritage building maintenance and repair contractor based ...
R J Rowley Specialist Restorer of Historic Buildings
R J Rowley is a family-run business in Kibworth Harcourt specialising in ...
Rickards Period Plastering Ltd
Rickards Period Plastering is a lime plastering specialist based at Cockfield near ...
Ryedale Plasterers Ltd
Ryedale Plasterers are traditional lime plasterers and cornice specialists based at Northallerton, ...
The Wessex Conservation Company
The Wessex Conservation Company is a Somerset-based team specialising in the sympathetic ...
Render on a solid wall
Establish what is on the wall and what is behind it. Cement render on an old solid wall usually cracks, lets water in at the cracks and then prevents it leaving, so the masonry behind is often wetter than an unrendered wall would be. Removal is frequently the first stage of the repair rather than an optional extra.
Expect the wall to need time. Once cement comes off, a saturated wall may need weeks or months to dry before re-rendering, and starting too soon locks the moisture back in. Any programme that ignores this is storing up a repeat of the problem.
Specify the finish deliberately. Harling, roughcast, floated and pargeted finishes are regional and period-specific, and the texture is as much a part of the building’s character as its windows. Photographs of neighbouring buildings of the same date are useful evidence when agreeing the specification.
Finish with a compatible coating. Limewash and mineral paints let the render breathe; modern masonry paints and waterproofing sealers undo the benefit of having used lime in the first place.
Questions to ask
Should cement render be removed from an old building?
Usually yes, where it is cracked or the wall behind is damp. Cement render traps moisture in solid walls and drives damp inward. Removal and replacement with lime is common conservation practice, though it is disruptive and the wall needs drying time before re-rendering.
What is harling?
A traditional wet-dash render, common in Scotland and northern England, in which a lime and aggregate mix is thrown onto the wall to give a rough, textured protective coat. It sheds water well, weathers attractively and remains breathable.
Can I paint lime render with ordinary masonry paint?
It is best avoided. Most modern masonry paints form a relatively impermeable film that stops the render breathing, which causes the coating to blister and the wall to hold moisture. Limewash, silicate or other mineral paints are the appropriate finishes.
All 13 businesses listed under Mortars & Renders
- Anglia Lime Company Suffolk
- Chalk Down Lime Ltd East Sussex
- Eco-Renovation Hertfordshire
- Inspire Building Specialists Ltd Oxfordshire
- JH Building Restoration Ltd Cambridgeshire
- ODS Group Oxfordshire
- Old Stone & Timber Ltd
- Organic By Design Cambridgeshire
- R J Rowley Specialist Restorer of Historic Buildings Leicestershire
- Rickards Period Plastering Ltd Suffolk
- Ryedale Plasterers Ltd North Yorkshire
- The Wessex Conservation Company Somerset
- Traditional Heritage
Directory information is provided to help visitors identify potentially relevant specialists and suppliers. Inclusion does not constitute a recommendation, approval or guarantee by Tuscan Foundry Products. Please check current services, credentials, availability and suitability directly with each business.