Lime Plastering is a specialist lime plastering contractor working throughout Newport and the wider Gwent area. As one of the larger towns in Gwent, Newport has a large stock of pre-1919 property built from Welsh sandstone — walls that were designed to breathe. We restore them using traditional lime plaster, lime render and lime mortar, never cement or gypsum.
Many properties in and around Newport sit within conservation areas or carry listed status, so finishes must match the original construction. We work regularly with Gwent conservation officers and typically specify hot-mixed lime, often finished as roughcast or limewashed for weather protection.
Newport and the villages around it retain a good deal of Welsh sandstone. Where that material is soft — as most traditional Gwent 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 Newport were designed to absorb and release moisture. Lime keeps that cycle working; cement seals it in. That single difference explains why so many Gwent 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 some of the highest rainfall and wind-driven damp in Britain 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 Newport property — the building types and problems vary, but the answer is always breathable lime rather than cement.
Victorian quarry-town house — Weather-facing walls of a Victorian quarry-town house taking the full force of some of the highest rainfall and wind-driven damp in Britain. We specified hot-mixed lime, often finished as roughcast or limewashed for weather protection, built the render up in generous coats and protected the work while it carbonated to avoid shrinkage cracking.
stone longhouse — A stone longhouse being brought back into use outside Newport. Because thick random rubble walls with earth cores must be able to breathe, we plastered internally in lime over a breathable insulating background and left the external stonework repointed rather than sealed.
slate-hung cottage — Blown gypsum plaster and tide marks on the ground floor of a slate-hung cottage in Gwent. 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.
We do. Newport is one of our core areas and we travel throughout Gwent and the surrounding parts of Wales for lime plastering, lime render, lime pointing and heritage repair.
Where damp is caused by trapped moisture in a solid wall — very common in older Newport 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.
Every property is different, so we do not publish fixed prices. Cost depends on the substrate, the number of coats, access and whether failed cement has to be removed first. We survey the property in Newport and provide a written, no-obligation quote.
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 Newport project so breathability is not lost at the final coat.
Lime cures slowly by carbonation. Allow roughly a week per coat as a guide, and longer in some of the highest rainfall and wind-driven damp in Britain. 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 Newport in Gwent and the wider Wales area.
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