Lime harling and leadwork:

Ellangowan High Street

Banchory · 2016

Our role: Main contractor for lime harling, masonry and leadwork
Client: Private client
Value: Under £0.5m
Programme: April 2016 to September 2016
Scope: Removal and renewal of lime harling, limewash, overhaul and renewal of rainwater goods, Code 6 lead flat roof, lead flashings and repairs, chimney pots, repointing of granite front elevation

Ellangowan is a private house on the High Street in Banchory, built in a Scottish Baronial manner with tall crow-stepped gables, slated dormers with finials and a front elevation of granite rubble with dressed granite margins and a canted bay. The gables and rear walls are harled. Working directly for the homeowners, who stayed in the house throughout, we stripped and renewed the harling on three elevations in traditional lime, refreshed the rainwater goods and overhauled the leadwork and roofs.

Ellangowan, High Street, Banchory — photograph 1

Ellangowan, High Street, Banchory — photograph 2

Ellangowan, High Street, Banchory — photograph 3

Ellangowan, High Street, Banchory — photograph 4

Ellangowan, High Street, Banchory — photograph 5

Ellangowan, High Street, Banchory — photograph 6

The challenge

The existing render on the north, east and west elevations had reached the end of its life and needed to come off back to sound stone, around 196 square metres in all across tall gables and chimney stacks. The rubble behind was uneven, so the wall face had to be built back up before any new coats could go on. The felt covering to the kitchen extension roof had failed, and opening up the roofs revealed further leadwork and timber needing attention. The house was occupied throughout, with planting and a working garden tight against the walls.

Our solution

Each harled elevation was scaffolded and the old render carefully removed until sound stone was reached. The masonry was dry brushed, washed down with clean water and then dubbed out in traditional lime mortar to bring the face flush between the high points of the stone, with the mortar pressed back as it dried to limit shrinkage and open the surface. A hand-cast pricking up coat in lime followed, protected and damped down for around ten days, then a hand-cast lime harling finish applied in two passes to a consistent texture. The walls were finished in three coats of unadulterated limewash, brushed and burnished into the damp surface. Downpipes and gutters were taken down, overhauled and repainted, with worn lengths renewed. On the kitchen extension, the felt was stripped, rotten sarking replaced, the deck overlaid in plywood laid to falls and covered in Code 6 lead, with a new fascia. New Code 5 cover and apron flashings were dressed into a fresh raggle at the roof abutment, high-level leadwork beneath the ironwork railings was renewed, cracked lead ridges were repaired and six chimney pots replaced. The granite front elevation was checked over and repointed where needed.