On the face of it, part 2

With the hidden guttering complete, our attention turned to the render of the top half of the house. Once again our naivety got the better of us as we assumed we would pick off any blown plaster and re-render. It soon became clear that we needed to rip it all off and start again. Where the gutter had bowed in the middle, water had been pouring down the front of the house, and the plaster was completely blown. Armed with an angle grinder, jammie wedged and hammer, we smashed off all the render revealing the stone beneath. 

Angle grinders at the ready!

Our next dilemma was what to render with: should we be true to the house and use lime plaster, a timely and tricky process, or go for the modern equivalent, quicker and cheaper? After a lot of deliberation we decided to go with the traditional method. Modern methods don't allow any breathability, so all that would happen is the stone would stay damp and gradually turn to dust. Lime plaster allows the building to breathe so any dampness in the masonry will eventually work its way out. We were lucky to find the awesome plaster, Bruce, to take on the task.

Work begins on the first layer using a mix of lime and horse hair

Then a scratch coat is applied

Finally the top smooth render is applied

The top coat has a faint line etched into it, to look like bricks. This can be quite challenging, to get straight and even; this time we remembered to draw a diagram...

Line detail around the two top windows

Meanwhile, we put our faith in the bottom half being sound, and decided to remove the paint. We found an excellent company based in Bristol called Restorative Techniques who were most helpful. They recommended the Therma Tech, a machine that blasts out steam at 150 degrees celsius.  Depending on the type of paint on the wall, a paint softener is applied before being steamed, the paint then peels off the wall.

Before

After

As you have probably guessed by now, the render underneath was also rubbish, a mixture of blown lime plaster and cement render cut in. The only option remaining was to remove it and start again....