Damp, blown plaster and failing render are common complaints in Stevenage's older housing. Because so much of it is built from clay lump and cob and exposed to the dry, cold easterly exposure of the eastern counties, the fix is nearly always breathable lime rather than another coat of cement. We deliver that work throughout Hertfordshire.
Damp in Stevenage homes is usually caused by the wrong material rather than a faulty building. Where cement render has been applied over clay lump and cob, stripping it back and re-rendering in lime normally resolves the damp within a single drying season.
The older parts of Stevenage are dominated by timber-framed and pargetted cottages, flint churches and barns, Georgian merchant houses. These are solid-wall constructions — there is no cavity, no damp-proof membrane and no vapour barrier — so the wall relies on evaporation through the plaster and render to stay dry.
Softness is the point. Traditional Hertfordshire walling of clay lump and cob is weaker than modern cement, so a hard mortar concentrates stress and moisture into the masonry face. Lime is deliberately the weaker material, and that is what makes it correct for Stevenage's older homes.
You get a single point of contact from survey to final coat. We agree the specification for your Stevenage property in writing, prepare and apply the lime in the correct build-up, and advise on breathable decoration once the work has cured.
Every Stevenage property is surveyed individually, but these examples show the kind of Hertfordshire buildings and use-cases we are called to most often.
clay lump cottage — Blown gypsum plaster and tide marks on the ground floor of a clay lump cottage in Hertfordshire. 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.
flint barn conversion — Owners of a flint barn conversion in Hertfordshire wanted warmer rooms without sealing the walls. We installed a woodfibre or cork-lime background and finished in lime plaster, improving comfort while keeping the wall vapour-open.
pargetted timber-framed house — Eroding masonry faces on a pargetted timber-framed house in Stevenage 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 clay lump and cob.
Yes. We regularly work on listed and conservation-area properties across Hertfordshire and can supply mix specifications and sample panels for Stevenage conservation officers where consent is required.
Yes — stripping failed cement render and replacing it with a breathable lime render is one of the most common jobs we carry out in Stevenage. It is usually the fastest way to resolve persistent damp in a solid-wall building.
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.
Our lime plastering, render and pointing teams also cover these towns and cities close to Stevenage in Hertfordshire and the wider East of England area.
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