Damp, blown plaster and failing render are common complaints in Wigan's older housing. Because so much of it is built from soft brick and exposed to the high rainfall and constant damp of the North West, the fix is nearly always breathable lime rather than another coat of cement. We deliver that work throughout Greater Manchester.
Damp in Wigan homes is usually caused by the wrong material rather than a faulty building. Where cement render has been applied over soft brick, stripping it back and re-rendering in lime normally resolves the damp within a single drying season.
The older parts of Wigan are dominated by stone farmhouses and barns, millworkers' terraces, 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.
Lime is flexible, breathable and self-healing. On Wigan properties built from soft brick, it moves with the building instead of cracking away from it, and it protects the masonry rather than the other way round.
You get a single point of contact from survey to final coat. We agree the specification for your Wigan property in writing, prepare and apply the lime in the correct build-up, and advise on breathable decoration once the work has cured.
Every Wigan property is surveyed individually, but these examples show the kind of Greater Manchester buildings and use-cases we are called to most often.
Georgian merchant house — Blown gypsum plaster and tide marks on the ground floor of a Georgian merchant house in Greater Manchester. 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.
sandstone village cottage — Weather-facing walls of a sandstone village cottage taking the full force of the high rainfall and constant damp of the North West. We specified hot-mixed lime render in three coats, roughcast or harled where exposure is severe, built the render up in generous coats and protected the work while it carbonated to avoid shrinkage cracking.
Lakeland stone farmhouse — A Lakeland stone farmhouse being brought back into use outside Wigan. 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.
We do. Wigan 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.
Yes — stripping failed cement render and replacing it with a breathable lime render is one of the most common jobs we carry out in Wigan. It is usually the fastest way to resolve persistent damp in a solid-wall building.
Yes. We regularly work on listed and conservation-area properties across Greater Manchester and can supply mix specifications and sample panels for Wigan conservation officers where consent is required.
Where damp is caused by trapped moisture in a solid wall — very common in older Wigan 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.
External lime work is best carried out between spring and early autumn so it can carbonate before the first frosts. Internal lime plastering in Wigan can be done year-round with adequate heating and ventilation.
Our lime plastering, render and pointing teams also cover these towns and cities close to Wigan in Greater Manchester and the wider North West England area.
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