Case Studies
Stone Replacement and Repoint.
This property in question had suffered stone decay through a variety of reasons. The main decay of the soft sandstone was caused by using a hard cement based mortar which trapped moisture in the stone causing erosion in an exposed part of the building. This in turn had allowed masonry bees into the fabric of the building again causing decay. Earlier smoke damage from an open fire had also taken it#039;s toll.
The badly worn stones were carefully removed, 17 in all, and replaced with matching faced sandstone, hand tooled on site, and bedded on a hydraulic lime mortar from the Singleton Birch quarry in Lincolnshire. The top section of the gable end was then repointed in soft lime mortar having first removed the hard cement based pointing. The stone was also lightly cleaned with a non chemical cleaning agent to remove the soot and tar stains.
The end result is a sympathetic repair to a small section of the gable end very much in keeping with the rest of the building. The soft lime mortar will protect the masonry units and the flush pointing will help shed water unlike the proud standing ribbon pointing that remains to the rest of the building.
