38 Ardconnel Street, Ardconnel Street, Inverness

Stone repair and lime harling:

38 Ardconnel Street

Inverness · 2015

Our role
Specialist masonry subcontractor
Client
McGregor Construction (Highlands) Ltd
Architect
Colin Armstrong Associates
Value
Under £0.5m
Programme
Spring 2015
Scope
Cement render and pointing removal, stone repair, lime pointing, lime harling, limewash

38 Ardconnel Street is a stone building in Inverness that was being converted to flats for A R Briggs & Co. McGregor Construction (Highlands) Ltd, the main contractor, appointed us to deal with the external masonry, working to the design of Colin Armstrong Associates, Chartered Architects. Our work covered the removal of cement render and pointing, repair of the stonework behind it, and the reinstatement of the walls in lime.

38 Ardconnel Street, Ardconnel Street, Inverness — photograph 1
38 Ardconnel Street, Ardconnel Street, Inverness — photograph 2
38 Ardconnel Street, Ardconnel Street, Inverness — photograph 3
38 Ardconnel Street, Ardconnel Street, Inverness — photograph 4
38 Ardconnel Street, Ardconnel Street, Inverness — photograph 5
38 Ardconnel Street, Ardconnel Street, Inverness — photograph 6

The challenge

The walls had been covered in cement render and pointed in cement, which holds moisture in the masonry and was breaking away from the stone. Behind it, the wall faces were a mix of rubble and dressed red sandstone, with defective lintels and rybats around the window openings. All of this had to be exposed, assessed and made good before any new finish could be applied. The work was carried out from scaffold, with the windows and drains protected throughout.

Our solution

Cement render was removed using hand tools, with light breakers where appropriate, and cement pointing was cut out until sound lime mortar was reached. Original pinning stones were salvaged and set aside for reuse. Protection boards were laid on the scaffold lifts to catch debris, which was cleared daily, and each elevation was worked top down and washed down with clean water on completion. Defective stone around the openings was repaired or replaced, and joints were raked out by hand with hammer and chisel and repointed in a pre-mixed lime mortar, struck to a consistent texture and protected from weather as it set. Where the wall was to be harled, deep voids were first packed out with pinnings and flushed up. A straightening coat of about 10mm was applied, pressed back once set and keyed with the back of the trowel, followed after a couple of days by a flicked texture coat of 6 to 8mm. The harling was then finished with an approved limewash, and the architect asked us to propose a colour to suit the stone.

Outcomes

Cement removed from the walls

Failed render and cement pointing were taken back to sound masonry, allowing the stone to be assessed and repaired.

Stone repaired and reused

Defective stonework was dealt with and original pinning stones were kept for reinstatement.

Breathable lime finish

Lime pointing and harling with a limewash finish replaced the cement coverings.

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