Coatbridge property owners come to us when a modern finish has failed. Cement render and gypsum plaster trap moisture inside whinstone and granite rubble, and in Scotland's cold, wet and wind-driven weather that shows up as damp patches, salt blooming and rotting timbers. We put it right with breathable lime across North Lanarkshire.
Damp in Coatbridge homes is usually caused by the wrong material rather than a faulty building. Where cement render has been applied over whinstone and granite rubble, stripping it back and re-rendering in lime normally resolves the damp within a single drying season.
Around Coatbridge you will find tenement blocks alongside later Georgian New Town townhouses. 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.
In Scotland's cold, wet and wind-driven weather, an impermeable render is a liability: water gets in at cracks and reveals and then cannot leave. Lime render on a Coatbridge wall handles that water, releasing it back out through the surface instead of pushing it deeper into the structure.
Every Coatbridge job begins with diagnosis: identifying where moisture is entering before any plaster goes on. We then remove failed material, prepare the whinstone and granite rubble, and build the lime up in coats, allowing each one to cure before the next.
Because traditional harling in lime is the historically correct external finish, Coatbridge throws up a particular set of problems. These are representative examples of how we resolve them in lime.
sandstone tenement flat — A sandstone tenement flat being brought back into use outside Coatbridge. Because traditional harling in lime is the historically correct external finish, we plastered internally in lime over a breathable insulating background and left the external stonework repointed rather than sealed.
New Town townhouse — Sagging original ceilings in a New Town townhouse near the centre of Coatbridge. 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.
converted steading — Eroding masonry faces on a converted steading in Coatbridge 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 Scottish sandstone.
Send us the details of your Coatbridge property through the contact form and we will arrange a free survey. You will receive a written specification and quote with no obligation to proceed.
We do. Lime repointing is a large part of our Coatbridge workload — raking out hard cement pointing and replacing it with a softer, sacrificial lime mortar that protects the masonry face instead of eroding 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 Coatbridge can be done year-round with adequate heating and ventilation.
It depends on the wall and its exposure. For most North Lanarkshire work we use hot-mixed lime harling, applied in successive thrown coats and limewashed, stepping up to a more hydraulic lime only where exposure or the substrate genuinely demands it.
Yes — stripping failed cement render and replacing it with a breathable lime render is one of the most common jobs we carry out in Coatbridge. It is usually the fastest way to resolve persistent damp in a solid-wall building.
Our lime plastering, render and pointing teams also cover these towns and cities close to Coatbridge in North Lanarkshire and the wider Scotland area.
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