We provide conservation-grade lime plastering across Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Whether you are repairing damp internal walls in a Yorkshire sandstone property, stripping failed cement render, or repointing stonework, our craftsmen work only in lime — the material Sheffield's period buildings were originally constructed with.
Sheffield's building stock reflects the history of Yorkshire and the Humber, and thick gritstone and sandstone walls rely on evaporation to stay dry. Applying gypsum or cement to these walls traps moisture; lime lets it evaporate freely, protecting the fabric of the building for decades.
Around Sheffield you will find gritstone weavers' cottages alongside later Victorian back-to-back terraces. 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.
Lime is flexible, breathable and self-healing. On Sheffield properties built from Yorkshire sandstone, it moves with the building instead of cracking away from it, and it protects the masonry rather than the other way round.
Every Sheffield job begins with diagnosis: identifying where moisture is entering before any plaster goes on. We then remove failed material, prepare the Yorkshire sandstone, and build the lime up in coats, allowing each one to cure before the next.
Because thick gritstone and sandstone walls rely on evaporation to stay dry, Sheffield throws up a particular set of problems. These are representative examples of how we resolve them in lime.
gritstone weaver's cottage — A gritstone weaver's cottage being brought back into use outside Sheffield. Because thick gritstone and sandstone walls rely on evaporation to stay dry, we plastered internally in lime over a breathable insulating background and left the external stonework repointed rather than sealed.
Victorian millowner's villa — Eroding masonry faces on a Victorian millowner's villa in Sheffield 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 millstone grit.
dales field barn — Blown gypsum plaster and tide marks on the ground floor of a dales field barn in South Yorkshire. 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. Lime repointing is a large part of our Sheffield workload — raking out hard cement pointing and replacing it with a softer, sacrificial lime mortar that protects the masonry face instead of eroding it.
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 Sheffield and provide a written, no-obligation quote.
Yes. We regularly work on listed and conservation-area properties across South Yorkshire and can supply mix specifications and sample panels for Sheffield conservation officers where consent is required.
It depends on the wall and its exposure. For most South Yorkshire work we use hot-mixed lime with coarse grit aggregate to suit hard-wearing stonework, stepping up to a more hydraulic lime only where exposure or the substrate genuinely demands it.
Our lime plastering, render and pointing teams also cover these towns and cities close to Sheffield in South Yorkshire and the wider Yorkshire and the Humber area.
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