Stonemasons & 'Stonemasons'!

The photographs above show what can happen when a builder is let loose on sandstone with a Stihl saw.  Major, irreparable, damage has been caused to what were decorative elements around windows and doors at to quoins.  Where the building would have been harled, these may have been exposed to show off the fine tooled surfaces.  Now, they either have to ve completely covered by new lime harling or very expensively replaced.

There are many people who can cut and shape stone very well.  There are others who work with lime, but there are many more who don't work with lime and appear not to understand the importance of using these two materials together.  Sandstone is a delicate material.  Treat it badly and it will dissolve in front of your eyes.  The cost of obtaining more stone of the same quality is significant, even if it is still available.  The cost of having a 'skilled craftsman' install it adds greater expense.  It is important to understand the possible impact of allowing a jobbing builder to intervene in your building.

Lack of understanding or care for your building can lead to disastrous consequences as can be seen in these photographs from a recent survey.

These show that cement render was used to 'prevent' water entering the stonework.  It may have reduced it being absorbed through the walling for a time but when it continued to enter via the miryad routes it was prevented from evaporating out again so it saturated the stonework and began to destroy the sandstone below.  This stone will have sat happily exposed for its first 100 years then the first cements would have been used to begin its decay.

It can all be repaired, at a cost, but it would have been better to have been left exposed and repaired like-for-like.  No-one considered the effects of cements on traditional buildings back then but we are reaping the rewards now.  There is sufficient knowledge and expertise nowadays to understand the mechanisms of decay and dampness and to repair and mitigate the effects.