Welcome to JAMES ALLAN Stonemasons (eDINBURGH)
We are Edinburgh Stonemasons that have been providing professional stonemasonry services in and around the Midlothian, East Lothian, West Lothian, Fife, and Borders areas for over three decades.
Over 30 Years Experience
Expert Restoration Skills
We Only Use Lime Mortar
Guaranteed Flexible Quoting
STONE BUILDING – STONE REPAIR and RESTORATION – STONE CLEANING – STONE REPLACEMENTS – LIME POINTING.
Whatever type of stonework you require in and around Edinburgh, we have the local expertise and experience to remedy any issue you may have in a friendly, and knowledgeable manner. For your peace of mind: We are fully insured, offer guarantees up to 25 years, and complete all work to the highest standard.
STONE REPAIRS
Do your stones’ need repairing due to weathering and old age? James Allan Stonemasons Edinburgh can offer three effective methods for repairing your stones, such as full stone replacement, lithomax stone repair and part indenting.
LIME POINTING
Has your existing pointing broken down and cracked? If so, James Allan Stonemasons (Edinburgh) can create new robust strength and a beautiful finish. As Edinburgh stonemasons of 30 yrs, we can re-point your stones for durability, strength and a seamless finish.
WALL REPAIRS
When your wall is close to extinction, James Allan Stonemasons (Edinburgh) have the wall repairs services needed to bring your old wall back to a new original state. This process expands its life, and brings your wall back to its former glory without the hefty cost.
BEFORE & AFTERS
View our before and after stonemasonry pictures featuring a sandstone cottage our Edinburgh stonemasons carefully restored in East Lothian. The building, prior to stone restoration, was covered in a nasty cement based render, which we replaced with lime mortar.
READ OUR FAQ’S
If you need stonework repairs, stone chimney restoration, or lime re-pointing work completed, we can get a team of Edinburgh Stonemasons to you almost straight away. If you are unsure of anything, then please have a read through our most frequently asked questions.
FREE TRIAL
James Allan Stonemasons (Edinburgh) can prove to you we know our stuff by coming to your home, absolutely free of charge to carry out a sample panel of lime pointing, stone wall repair or whatever type of work you want doing to let you see what you will be getting from us with no commitment to buy.
Professional cleaning of stone, brick, concrete and paving
James Allan Stonemasons (Edinburgh) can carry out the effective, safe cleaning of all types of masonry including natural stone, brickwork, artificial concrete stone and paving etc.
We have many types of equipment and methods at our disposal including Doff low pressure steam cleaning, wet media blasting with our incredible Quill Falcon machine. We have dry sandblasting equipment which can sometimes be appropriate. We have high pressure cold and wet washers. We have huge experience in chemical cleaning and paint removal.
To summarise, we have the right tools for the right job.
So what can we do for you? While our speciality will always be stone cleaning, we can also carry out brick cleaning, concrete cleaning as well as driveway and patio cleaning. We can remove paint and graffiti from any surface. In a nutshell, if its masonry we can clean it as well as restore it.
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0131 447 0003
please note:
James Allan Stonemasons (Edinburgh) Always Use Lime For Stone Building, Pointing, & Stone Repairs.
Why You Should Check Your Masonry For Defects
Every home will run into problems at some point during its lifespan. A lot of the time, these problems arise from your masonry.
Over time, things can happen to the structure of your home – or any surrounding stone structures – causing them to have defects.
As you can imagine, this isn’t something you want to leave unattended for too long, as it may end up leading to permanent structural damage that costs a fortune to fix!
Plus, masonry defects can just look a bit ugly and cause your home to lose some of its aesthetic appeal. So, the best thing to do is check your masonry for any problems
Feel For Loose Stones
Another thing to look for is a stone that’s become loose and can almost be pulled out of its structure.
This can commonly happen in walls, patio, or even on the side of your home.
Test stone masonry regularly by pushing any pieces that look a bit out of place, or attempting to pull them out.
Look For Crumbling Stones
Inspect the outside of your property and be on the lookout for any crumbling pieces of stone.
This is a fairly good indication that a problem has occurred, and is in need of fixing.
Stone shouldn’t crumble, so if yours has, then it could be down to shoddy workmanship in the past. This is also a telltale sign of frost damage, which may well have happened during the cold winter months.
This should be a very easy thing to spot, as it looks like pieces of stone have been eroded, and you may even see powdered residue on other stones below and around it.
What To Do When You Find Defects
Checking your masonry for defects is only one part of the battle. The next step is ensuring you find a professional stonemason to handle your problems. James Allan Stonemasons (Edinburgh) can help with all masonry repairs – regardless of how simple or difficult they may be.
Typically, we have two different approaches to our repair service. We either try and chisel away at a damaged piece of stone until the sound stone is exposed. From here, we can insert stainless steel fixings and apply a specially formulated repair mortar.
This gives the appearance that a brand new stone has been fitted, without us actually needing to fit it. If your masonry damage is very extreme, then we opt for our second approach, which is to simply cut out the stone and replace it with an entirely new piece.
If you want to keep your masonry in good shape, then you should check it for defects on a fairly regular basis. As soon as you spot a problem, give us a call, and we’ll help fix it as soon as can be.
Check For Cracks
One of the most common masonry defects is when cracks appear in pieces of stone.
This can be because of general wear and tear, bad workmanship, or possibly just an old piece of stone losing some of its strength.
Small cracks may not seem serious, but they can quickly widen to become much bigger problems.
So, it pays when you spot the defect early on and get it seen to as soon as possible.
Why Does James Allan Stonemasons (Edinburgh) Only Use Lime Mortars for Lime Pointing?
Any building or structure built more than 100 years ago in Edinburgh would have almost certainly been built using a lime mortar for lime pointing.
Lime has been used as a binder back to Roman times and this is for good reason. To say it is a time proven product would be something of an understatement.
Many or most of our historical structures have very little in the way of foundations unlike today. Foundations of yesteryear where typically large flat stones laid directly onto the earth and pointed with a lime mortar.
As you might imagine, this could lead to a fair wee bit of settlement within the masonry pieces and this is where the use of lime mortar and lime pointing becomes important as the lime mortar is very flexible and can withstand this movement.
Lime mortar used for pointing is also very much more stone-like in the way it behaves in freeze-thaw cycles, and very much moves with the host masonry. It also has a great deal of breathability that cement does not, allowing moisture to exit through the mortar as the building was designed to do.
Properly selected mortar for lime pointing should be slightly softer than the masonry to be pointed, so as in the cases of the pointing being forced out by very extreme temperatures etc, it will not damage the stone as it does so. Cement mixes are far too hard for this purpose, among many other reasons not to use it.
It is sad to see many fine buildings in Edinburgh, Fife and the Lothians and beyond pointed in unsightly, brittle cement mortars. This will in time adversely affect the structure, possibly beyond repair.
The only reason I can think of for the continued use of cement is one of cost. At the time of writing a bag of cement costs around £5, while a bag of lime costs around £20. The cost of lime mortar material is only a slight consideration for say a pointing job, and is surely worth the cost of upgrading to lime.
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0131 447 0003
Customer Testimonials
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We very recently had James Allan Stonemasons (Edinburgh) carry out major repair works to our main arched window at the front of our Church. I can honestly say they did a fantastic job in securing a very shaky window, which I am pleased to say is now as solid as a rock.
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James Allan Stonemasons (Edinburgh) replaced a number of stone pieces to the rear of our house. I have to say they did a fantastic job, and are extremely helpful. They thoroughly cleaned up after themselves and are extremely polite. Thank you also for unloading my shopping!
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My wife and I would like to say a big thank you to you for the work you did to our garden walls. They look very robust now. Thank you for the great job you made tidying up after you, I expected a bombsite after you left, but I am pleased to say it was very tidy. Thanks again.
Office Location
64A Cumberland Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6RE
Open Hours
8am To 5pm Mon/Fri
info@stonemasonsedinburgh.com.