Latest Articles
Conserving Historic Church Stonework: A Practical Overview
Most damage to historic church stonework comes from well-meaning intervention, not neglect. This practical guide explains how to diagnose problems first, why doing nothing is often the right call, and why lime—never cement—is your friend.
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Choosing the Right Lime Mortar Mix for Historic Stone
Choosing lime mortar for historic stone isn't about the recipe—it's about deciding which element fails first, and ensuring it's never the stone. Learn the sacrificial principle, from lime putty to NHL, before you point a single joint.
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Natural Stone Types and Their Suitability for Restoration Work
Bad stone restoration usually comes down to matching looks instead of physical properties—porosity, hardness and vapour permeability decide whether a repair survives. Here's how each major stone type behaves, and where common advice fails.
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Managing Damp in Historic Buildings Without Damaging Fabric
Historic walls are designed to breathe, so sealing them with cement and plastic paints traps moisture and accelerates decay. This guide reveals why most "rising damp" is misdiagnosed—and how to work with old buildings' physics instead of against them.
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Restoration, Repair or Conservation: What's the Difference?
Repair, restoration, conservation, preservation—we use them like synonyms, but each demands different ethics and outcomes. This guide unpacks how the object's status, not its damage, decides what you're allowed to do.
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Hydraulic Lime vs Non-Hydraulic Lime: Which to Use and Where
Hydraulic and non-hydraulic lime look identical but behave nothing alike—one sets with water, the other with air. Choose wrong on historic masonry and your mortar crumbles within a winter. Here's the framework for getting it right.
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Why Breathability Matters in Old Walls and Solid Masonry
Old solid walls aren't sealed boxes—they're breathing structures that dry by evaporation. Block that with cement render or acrylic paint and you trap moisture, not stop it. Here's why breathability is physics, not preference.
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Carving Replacement Stones for Gothic Tracery Windows: A How-To
Carving replacement stones for Gothic tracery isn't restoration—it's making a new object that must sit inside a ruin and look like it's always been there. Here's the forensic, error-prone process, including where it goes wrong.
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