Looking for lime plastering in Barnstaple? We are traditional lime specialists covering Devon and the rest of South West England. Our work here ranges from cob and thatch cottages to listed buildings and conservation-area homes, and every mix is chosen for the cob we find behind the existing finish.
Exposure matters as much as material. Barnstaple sits in the wet, wind-driven rain typical of the South West, which means external work has to shed water and then dry out again quickly. That is exactly what a correctly built lime render does, and exactly what a sealed cement skin prevents.
The older parts of Barnstaple are dominated by cob and thatch cottages, granite farmhouses, Georgian and Regency terraces. These are solid-wall constructions — there is no cavity, no damp-proof membrane and no vapour barrier — so the wall relies on evaporation through the plaster and render to stay dry.
Softness is the point. Traditional Devon walling of cob is weaker than modern cement, so a hard mortar concentrates stress and moisture into the masonry face. Lime is deliberately the weaker material, and that is what makes it correct for Barnstaple's older homes.
You get a single point of contact from survey to final coat. We agree the specification for your Barnstaple property in writing, prepare and apply the lime in the correct build-up, and advise on breathable decoration once the work has cured.
Every Barnstaple property is surveyed individually, but these examples show the kind of Devon buildings and use-cases we are called to most often.
cob and thatch cottage — Weather-facing walls of a cob and thatch cottage taking the full force of the wet, wind-driven rain typical of the South West. We specified hot-mixed lime with coarse local aggregate, built up in generous coats, built the render up in generous coats and protected the work while it carbonated to avoid shrinkage cracking.
Regency terrace — A Regency terrace in Barnstaple where hard cement render had trapped moisture against cob. We stripped the render back to bare wall, allowed the masonry to dry, then rebuilt the finish in three coats of lime and limewashed it.
stone-built chapel conversion — Eroding masonry faces on a stone-built chapel conversion in Barnstaple caused by hard cement pointing. We raked out by hand to the correct depth and repointed in a soft lime mortar matched to the original aggregate and colour of the cob.
Where damp is caused by trapped moisture in a solid wall — very common in older Barnstaple properties — replacing cement or gypsum with lime allows the wall to dry out. We always identify the source of moisture during the survey before recommending work.
Yes — stripping failed cement render and replacing it with a breathable lime render is one of the most common jobs we carry out in Barnstaple. It is usually the fastest way to resolve persistent damp in a solid-wall building.
Lime cures slowly by carbonation. Allow roughly a week per coat as a guide, and longer in the wet, wind-driven rain typical of the South West. We protect the work and control drying so the finish cures evenly rather than cracking or dusting.
Our lime plastering, render and pointing teams also cover these towns and cities close to Barnstaple in Devon and the wider South West England area.
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