Lime harling and repointing:

Lambroos, Keabog

Stonehaven · 2017

Our role: Principal contractor, masonry and lime works
Client: Private client
Value: Under £0.5m
Programme: Started September 2017
Scope: Lime harling to gables and chimney, new stone skews with lead soakers, cutting out cement pointing, lime repointing, limewash

Lambroos is a stone-built country house set in mature woodland at Keabog, near Stonehaven. Its coursed rubble walls carry a bay-windowed front elevation, a dormer and tall chimney stacks, and its gables had been finished in cement harl. The owner appointed us to renew the gable finishes, replace the skew stones and repoint the main elevations in traditional lime, so that the walls could shed moisture rather than trap it.

Lambroos, Keabog, Keabog, near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire — photograph 1

Lambroos, Keabog, Keabog, near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire — photograph 2

Lambroos, Keabog, Keabog, near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire — photograph 3

Lambroos, Keabog, Keabog, near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire — photograph 4

Lambroos, Keabog, Keabog, near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire — photograph 5

Lambroos, Keabog, Keabog, near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire — photograph 6

The challenge

Hard cement had been used across the house over the years: as harl on the gables, as pointing between the rubble courses and as a coating on some of the skew stones, with concrete skews at the gable heads. Cement is stiff and dense, and it holds moisture in the stone behind it. The task was to remove it carefully without damaging the rubble beneath, and to renew the gable edges and wall finishes with materials that suit the original fabric. The house stands in a wooded garden with limited space and no parking on site, so access, protection of the planting and the bay windows and tidy working areas all had to be planned.

Our solution

Existing cement harl and cement pointing were cut out by hand with specialist masons' chisels, until sound lime mortar or stone was reached, taking care not to damage the rubble masonry. Loose and friable material was dry brushed off and the wall washed down so that new work would bond. The gables and chimney were reharled in traditional lime by hand casting, in three coats: pricking up, straightening and a textured finish coat. Each coat was kept damp and cured for around two weeks. The harling was then finished in four coats of limewash, brushed well into the surface. The concrete skew stones at the gable heads were taken down and replaced with new stone skews, with lead soakers and mortar fillets fitted and the slates lifted and relaid where needed. Cement-coated skews on the lean-to were replaced in sandstone to match. The coursed rubble elevations were repointed in lime mortar with stone pinnings set flush where the joints were wide, and the mortar was scraped back with a pointing key to leave an open texture that helps it carbonate. The work was carried out from scaffold by a team of up to five.