Chorley property owners come to us when a modern finish has failed. Cement render and gypsum plaster trap moisture inside soft brick, and in the high rainfall and constant damp of the North West that shows up as damp patches, salt blooming and rotting timbers. We put it right with breathable lime across Lancashire.
Exposure matters as much as material. Chorley sits in the high rainfall and constant damp of the North 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.
Around Chorley you will find stone farmhouses and barns alongside later Georgian merchant houses. Both were built with lime, and both suffer when a modern impermeable finish is applied over the top — the moisture has to go somewhere, and it goes into the masonry and the timbers.
Using lime in Chorley is a conservation requirement as often as a technical one. It keeps the property eligible for heritage consent, preserves original detailing, and gives a soft, hand-finished surface no modern board can replicate.
Every Chorley job begins with diagnosis: identifying where moisture is entering before any plaster goes on. We then remove failed material, prepare the soft brick, and build the lime up in coats, allowing each one to cure before the next.
Because high exposure means walls must shed water and dry quickly, Chorley throws up a particular set of problems. These are representative examples of how we resolve them in lime.
Georgian merchant house — Blown gypsum plaster and tide marks on the ground floor of a Georgian merchant house in Lancashire. We hacked off the gypsum, applied a haired lime base coat and a lime putty finish, and specified clay paint so the wall could keep drying.
slate-rubble barn conversion — Cracked and cement-patched panels on a slate-rubble barn conversion in Lancashire. Failed infill was cut out, laths and staves renewed where rotten, and the panels made good in haired lime so the frame can move without splitting the finish.
Lakeland stone farmhouse — Sagging original ceilings in a Lakeland stone farmhouse near the centre of Chorley. Sound laths were retained and re-keyed, missing sections re-lathed in riven timber, and the ceiling made good with haired lime plaster to match the surviving profile.
Yes. We take samples of the surviving mortar or plaster from the Lakeland slate and rubble stone first, then match aggregate, colour and texture so the repair blends into the original rather than patching over it.
External lime work is best carried out between spring and early autumn so it can carbonate before the first frosts. Internal lime plastering in Chorley can be done year-round with adequate heating and ventilation.
Where damp is caused by trapped moisture in a solid wall — very common in older Chorley 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.
Our lime plastering, render and pointing teams also cover these towns and cities close to Chorley in Lancashire and the wider North West England area.
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