Cheshire Lime Ltd was approached to restore the structural integrity and appearance of this 1740’s G2 listed Georgian Manor House Wall whilst retaining as much of the existing original fabric as possible.
It is difficult to convey how badly the wall had degraded over the years.
Very hard Cement, and even Concrete, had been poorly applied to all of the joints and smeared liberally over already spalled brick faces which were crying out for some tlc.
Behind this crumbling facade, Ivy and insect life had grown within the voids further eroding much of the remaining original Lime Mortar. The result was a very sad wall indeed with many areas of loose brick now simply stacked atop one another.
Some structural movement had taken place and so the owners were concerned with both the safety and appearance, but wanting to maintain the originality of the wall.
All of the cementitious material was removed along with over 280 bricks which had to be carefully cut from the wall. Of these, over 220 were were replaced with reclaimed bricks. The remainder were rotated to show their good face.
The challenge here was to avoid destabilising large sections. The unusual ‘bond’ with limited header bricks to provide support meant having to re-bed many more bricks than just those being replaced.
This work was only possible by our investment in quality tooling such as the Arbortech Allsaw system.
We analysed the original Lime Mortar and sourced the most appropriate sand. Traditional Hot-Mixed Lime Mortar was then freshly prepared on-site.
As the full scale of erosion became apparent the freshly Hot-Mixed Lime Mortar was introduced deeper into the heart of the wall compared to a standard re-point, with many sections being rebuilt in situ.
Helical Bars were installed to span and reinforce those areas of greatest outward movement and tie them back to more plumb sections either side.
The capstones, having been numbered and photographed, were replaced in the original locations but in such a way so as to help reduce the visual impact of the structural movement and bring the centre of gravity inwards, whilst still maintaining drip edges.
The clients were delighted with the end result; Achieved within their allowable budget as opposed to a more costly full rebuild. The wall once more benefitting from the breathability and flexibility of the correct traditional materials.
Cheshire Lime Ltd carries fully comprehensive public liability insurance which is tailored specifically to deal with Listed and historic structures. This combined with our experience allows us to tackle sensitive projects like these with confidence.
