Traditional lime plastering in Stockport and across Greater Manchester. Working on millworkers' terraces and other solid-wall property, we specify hot-mixed lime, lime putty and natural hydraulic lime to suit each individual wall rather than applying one standard mix to everything.
Many properties in and around Stockport sit within conservation areas or carry listed status, so finishes must match the original construction. We work regularly with Greater Manchester conservation officers and typically specify hot-mixed lime render in three coats, roughcast or harled where exposure is severe.
Stockport and the villages around it retain a good deal of Lakeland slate and rubble stone. Where that material is soft — as most traditional Greater Manchester 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.
Using lime in Stockport is a conservation requirement as often as a technical one. It keeps the property eligible for heritage consent, preserves original detailing, and gives a soft, hand-finished surface no modern board can replicate.
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 high rainfall and constant damp of the North West 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 Stockport property — the building types and problems vary, but the answer is always breathable lime rather than cement.
sandstone village cottage — A sandstone village cottage in Stockport where hard cement render had trapped moisture against Lakeland slate and rubble stone. 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.
Lakeland stone farmhouse — Consented repairs to a listed Lakeland stone farmhouse in Greater Manchester. 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.
millworkers' terrace — A millworkers' terrace being brought back into use outside Stockport. Because high exposure means walls must shed water and dry quickly, we plastered internally in lime over a breathable insulating background and left the external stonework repointed rather than sealed.
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 Stockport and provide a written, no-obligation quote.
We do. Lime repointing is a large part of our Stockport workload — raking out hard cement pointing and replacing it with a softer, sacrificial lime mortar that protects the masonry face instead of eroding it.
Where damp is caused by trapped moisture in a solid wall — very common in older Stockport 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 take samples of the surviving mortar or plaster from the Lakeland slate and rubble stone first, then match aggregate, colour and texture so the repair blends into the original rather than patching over it.
We do. Stockport is one of our core areas and we travel throughout Greater Manchester and the surrounding parts of North West England for lime plastering, lime render, lime pointing and heritage repair.
Our lime plastering, render and pointing teams also cover these towns and cities close to Stockport in Greater Manchester and the wider North West England area.
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