Since we bought Bramble Cottage back in 2022 we were not happy with the walls. They looked “rustic” to say the least.
Our original intention was to hide the stone under a new layer of lime plaster but unfortunately (or fortunately as things turned out) we were unable to find a person who was able to replaster the walls for us. Our preferred contractor was unable to do the work because of family illness and another person we approached provided a price that was well in excess of our budget.
After much deliberation I decided on dry lining the room with a stud partition, 50 mm insulation and finally a layer of plasterboard. I had spoken to a neighbour who had done the same thing and also investigated on the internet – it seemed the best way forward. That was until I found a couple of videos online explaining that the dry lining approach may ultimately result in mould as it changes the dew point of the wall and also stops the wall from “breathing naturally”.
Nobody wants mould in their house – it’s not good for your health and it can definitely affect the resale value.
So once again I was stuck…no idea what to do next. That was until Gill came home the next day and said “I actually like seeing the stone walls and I would like to repoint one wall to see what it looks like..”
I was onboard immediately. I had no idea what the end result would look like but I did know that if it worked out it would be cheaper than any solution I had looked at so far.
So the next afternoon we drove 20 miles to visit the experts at Heritage Lime in Gloucester.
We introduced ourselves and explained that we were complete novices and that Gill would be doing all the work.
I was impressed because they didn’t try to bamboozle Gill with lots of “tradesman talk” in fact it was quite the opposite – they gave her the confidence to take on the challenge and to take on other potentially more difficult jobs.
Having spent a comparatively small amount of money on materials we headed to the cottage to start the transformation.
We started “raking out” the old lime mortar at about 4:00 pm and by 8:00 pm that evening we were finished. It was a dusty job, but much easier than we had imagined it was going to be.
The final job before going home was to blow all of the dust out of the nooks and crannies with my compressor.
Saturday morning was full of sunshine and at first sight we were pleased with the result from the previous evening.
Gill was very persistent – she wanted to do the job herself. So I got the tools, materials and coffee ready and she made a start.
She didn’t have any prior experience – only what she had learned from the internet and the couple of tips offered by the chaps at Heritage Lime, but armed with that she got started – in at the deep end. And in with a smile.
One key point that she had already learned from repointing out chimney breast was to start at the top. This was not for any technical reason but because experience had taught her that by the end of the day she wouldn’t have the strength left to work with her arms above her head.
Step by step and about 5 hours of work later she had finished.
The end result was impressive – really impressive!
Whilst I am sure that a professional would find fault and explain that there are 10 easier and better ways to do the job – that doesn’t matter. Gill did it and she did it her way and the final cost of materials was less than £20 and a total of 10 hours labour.
I would say that’s an excellent return on our investment!
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