Plastering in Rockbourne

Lime on solid walls. The cottages along the street are brick, flint and timber framed with a solid wall and no cavity, and many carry lime plaster inside and a lime render or limewash outside. That fabric works by letting moisture move through it and dry out.

Dust sheets go down first and the background is prepared and brushed clean, with PVA only where a modern background is dusty. Where a wall has blown we take it back carefully, make good the background, and put on a haired lime backing coat and a fine finish, with real drying time between them, and longer again before a mist coat goes on and the room is decorated. Where a previous owner has skimmed over lime with a modern plaster, that is usually the patch that is failing.

In the older houses the ceilings are riven laths nailed across the joists with lime pushed through the gaps, and the nibs that squeeze out on top are all that holds them up. When those snap the ceiling sags in a bay or drops in one go. Depending on the building and its listing, and there are fifty-two listed entries in Rockbourne, we either replace like for like on new lath or, where it is allowed and the joists are sound, over-board and skim. That choice is worth settling before anyone quotes, because the two are days apart.

Damp at the bottom of the wall. The village sits on low ground beside Sweatfords Water and falls in flood zones 2 and 3, so plaster blowing off in the first half-metre above the floor is common here. That is water and salt, not bad plastering, and skimming over it hides it for one winter. We look at what is wetting the wall first: ground levels raised against the house, a hard cement render or a modern floor trapping moisture, a blocked gully. Then the repair, which on an old wall means a breathable lime replastering rather than a waterproof render that pushes the damp higher up.

Outside, local damage is cut out and patched in matching material, because a hard sand and cement patch on soft old work cracks off and pulls the surface with it. Where a whole elevation has gone, the traditional job is scratch coat, render coat and float in lime, finished with limewash or a breathable mineral paint. On the newer houses around the village a silicone thin coat or a monocouche makes better sense, with a bell cast bead at the base. For the outside walls, see rendering in Rockbourne. Barn conversions and extensions are dry lining on dabs or board on stud, then tape and joint or a full skim, with stop bead at each reveal, which matters here because the old openings are deep. Where one is floated wet instead the backing coat is browning or hardwall, with bonding on a dense face.

Lime work is not priced by the square metre. On older buildings, the material and the drying time decide it. Lime or gypsum. A gypsum skim goes on in a day. Lime goes on in coats with drying time between each, so the same room needs more visits. On an old solid wall lime is usually right, because gypsum over damp masonry blows.

What comes off. Blown plaster comes off, and a backing coat and float go back on. A lath ceiling repaired in lime is a different job again from one overboarded with plasterboard.

Outside. A full elevation needs a scaffold, and the work at height rules make that a priced line. Re-rendering brings in Approved Document L, though on a listed building the conservation position comes first.

Distance. Several visits for lime coats, each a long drive, add to the time.

Ask other quotes whether they are using lime or gypsum, how many coats, and whether drying time is allowed for.

We are 16 miles from Rockbourne, working from a base in Boscombe near Bournemouth. We cover the village, Whitsbury, Damerham and Fordingbridge across SP6, with New Forest District Council for planning and building control. Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. Before you book a visit in Rockbourne, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Every plastering job is priced by Thomas Hannen, the owner, after he has looked at the walls. A verified Checkatrade customer gave us full marks, 10 out of 10. We make no charge for the visit or the written, itemised quote.

Most repairs in Rockbourne need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.