Salmon House, Portsoy | Restoration Case Study

Our role: Masonry subcontractor
Client: Scottish Traditional Boat Festival
Awards: Aberdeenshire Design Awards 2010: Distinction for Conservation and the Ian Shepherd Award

Salmon House is a Category B listed salmon bothy on Portsoy Harbour, built in 1834 to prepare salmon for market, store and mend nets and house the fishermen. It is one of the last of its kind in Scotland. For the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival we carried out the masonry repairs and lime harling in time for the June 2008 festival.

Before & after

Drag across the image to compare the building before our work and after completion.

Salmon House after restoration by LTM Group

BeforeAfter

The challenge

The building was covered in cement render that was trapping moisture in the masonry, and the work had a fixed deadline: the opening of the 2008 festival.

Our solution

We removed the cement render with hand tools to avoid vibration damage, pinned out every joint and flush pointed the masonry to take new lime harling, then finished with coats of limewash. Tallow was mixed into the final coat to make it more water-resistant during the first few years, help the lime cure and reduce salts entering the mortar while it carbonates.

Outcomes

Ready for the festival

Completed on time for the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival in June 2008.

Traditional finish

Hand-applied lime harl and tallow limewash, as the building would originally have had.

Award-winning

Distinction for Conservation and the Ian Shepherd Award at the Aberdeenshire Design Awards 2010.

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