Lime Plastering is a specialist lime plastering contractor working throughout Hitchin and the wider Hertfordshire area. As a smaller Hertfordshire town with a high proportion of older property, Hitchin has a large stock of pre-1919 property built from clay lump and cob — walls that were designed to breathe. We restore them using traditional lime plaster, lime render and lime mortar, never cement or gypsum.
Whether it is timber-framed and pargetted cottages on the edge of Hitchin, a terrace near the centre, or a farm building out in Hertfordshire, each project starts with a survey of the substrate so the lime mix, aggregate and coat build-up are right for that specific wall.
Hitchin and the villages around it retain a good deal of clay lump and cob. Where that material is soft — as most traditional Hertfordshire walling is — the mortar and plaster must always be softer than the masonry, so it wears sacrificially instead of eroding the stone or brick face.
Solid-wall buildings in Hitchin were designed to absorb and release moisture. Lime keeps that cycle working; cement seals it in. That single difference explains why so many Hertfordshire homes develop damp after a modern refurbishment.
Once the survey is agreed, we protect the site, strip back the failed finish, and apply lime in successive coats with proper curing between each. In the dry, cold easterly exposure of the eastern counties we control drying with damp hessian or sheeting so the work carbonates evenly rather than cracking.
The jobs below are typical of the work we carry out on Hitchin property — the building types and problems vary, but the answer is always breathable lime rather than cement.
Georgian merchant's house — Sagging original ceilings in a Georgian merchant's house near the centre of Hitchin. 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.
clay lump cottage — Consented repairs to a listed clay lump cottage in Hertfordshire. Sample panels were prepared for the conservation officer, mortar analysis informed the mix, and the historic surface was conserved and patched rather than replaced wholesale.
pargetted timber-framed house — A pargetted timber-framed house in Hitchin where hard cement render had trapped moisture against clay lump and 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.
Lime cures slowly by carbonation. Allow roughly a week per coat as a guide, and longer in the dry, cold easterly exposure of the eastern counties. We protect the work and control drying so the finish cures evenly rather than cracking or dusting.
We do. Hitchin is one of our core areas and we travel throughout Hertfordshire and the surrounding parts of East of England for lime plastering, lime render, lime pointing and heritage repair.
Yes, but it must be finished with a breathable product such as limewash, clay paint or mineral silicate paint. We advise on suitable finishes for each Hitchin project so breathability is not lost at the final coat.
Our lime plastering, render and pointing teams also cover these towns and cities close to Hitchin in Hertfordshire and the wider East of England area.
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