Gosport property owners come to us when a modern finish has failed. Cement render and gypsum plaster trap moisture inside flint and knapped flintwork, and in the drier but wind-driven weather of the South East coast and Downs that shows up as damp patches, salt blooming and rotting timbers. We put it right with breathable lime across Hampshire.
Exposure matters as much as material. Gosport sits in the drier but wind-driven weather of the South East coast and Downs, 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 Gosport you will find timber-framed hall houses alongside later flint-and-brick cottages. 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 the drier but wind-driven weather of the South East coast and Downs, an impermeable render is a liability: water gets in at cracks and reveals and then cannot leave. Lime render on a Gosport wall handles that water, releasing it back out through the surface instead of pushing it deeper into the structure.
Every Gosport job begins with diagnosis: identifying where moisture is entering before any plaster goes on. We then remove failed material, prepare the flint and knapped flintwork, and build the lime up in coats, allowing each one to cure before the next.
Because timber frame, flint and soft brick dominate the pre-1850 stock, Gosport throws up a particular set of problems. These are representative examples of how we resolve them in lime.
timber-framed hall house — Cracked and cement-patched panels on a timber-framed hall house in Hampshire. 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.
tile-hung Wealden farmhouse — Eroding masonry faces on a tile-hung Wealden farmhouse in Gosport 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 soft red brick.
oast house conversion — Blown gypsum plaster and tide marks on the ground floor of an oast house conversion in Hampshire. 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.
Yes — stripping failed cement render and replacing it with a breathable lime render is one of the most common jobs we carry out in Gosport. It is usually the fastest way to resolve persistent damp in a solid-wall building.
Where damp is caused by trapped moisture in a solid wall — very common in older Gosport 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. We regularly work on listed and conservation-area properties across Hampshire and can supply mix specifications and sample panels for Gosport conservation officers where consent is required.
We do. Lime repointing is a large part of our Gosport workload — raking out hard cement pointing and replacing it with a softer, sacrificial lime mortar that protects the masonry face instead of eroding it.
Our lime plastering, render and pointing teams also cover these towns and cities close to Gosport in Hampshire and the wider South East England area.
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