Malleny House Cottages and Stable Block, Malleny Garden | Restoration Case Study

Our role: Main contractor
Client: The National Trust for Scotland
Architect: Lorn Macneal Architects & Building Surveyors
Value: Under £0.5m
Programme: July to September 2012 (8 weeks)
Scope: Lime repointing, masonry and chimney repairs, leadwork, slating, joinery, decoration

Malleny House at Balerno dates mainly from 1635 and, with its walled garden and estate buildings, is Category A listed and cared for by the National Trust for Scotland. For the Trust we carried out external fabric repairs to the estate's Blue Cottage, Green Cottage and stable block, the rubble stone buildings that sit beside the garden.

The challenge

Loose and defective pointing, a painted gable, displaced stone copes, a failing chimney and zinc valleys, watergate and ridge due for renewal were letting water into the walls and roofs. The cottages were tenanted throughout, with a family living next door, and the full package of masonry, roofing, joinery and decoration had to be delivered in an eight week summer programme.

Our solution

Before repointing, our in-house conservation team sampled and analysed the original mortar, identifying a feebly hydraulic hot lime mix of roughly one part lime to 1.2 parts coarse sand, and recommended repair mortars graded to exposure: NHL 5 gauged with CL90 quicklime and Cambusmore sand for sheltered rubble walls, and stronger NHL 5 mixes for chimneys, skews and copes. Our masons raked out and repointed the stable block and cottage elevations, replaced brick infill with stone, lifted and rebedded the east gable copes on a consolidated wallhead, and rebuilt the upper section of a stone and brick chimney. Over the stable door, the stones were recorded, taken down to renew the timber beam and rebuilt in the same pattern. On the roofs, zinc valleys, watergate and ridge were replaced in lead, the lead flat roof was renewed and slating repaired, alongside sash and case window, door and purlin repairs and redecoration of the timber joinery.

Outcomes

Matched mortar

Repairs based on analysis of the original hot lime mortar.

Weathertight roofs

New lead valleys, watergate, ridge and flat roof in place of worn zinc and failed lead.

Estate kept in use

Tenanted cottages remained occupied throughout the works.

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