Protecting your stones from wear and to reduce mortar decay is vital for the long life and beauty of your stonework. Over time, weathering takes its toll on your stonemasonry and you will need to make repairs more often.
The four major causes of stone wear and tear are:
- Water penetration
- Frost
- Pollutants
- Crystallisation of soluble salts
Your stonework’s structure is the main piece in making sure you protect your stones from decay. Allowing for a strong structure using mortar, like Lithomex, improves your stones ability to defy decay.
The issue with natural weathering
Over the course of a decade, your stones will go through many cycles of wetting and drying. During these cycles, the weather will chip away at your stones and pointings’ integrity.
You will see your mortar crack and crumble allowing stones to shift. The stones may move and fall; the stones will damage.
After 10 years of cycles, especially if the air is damper and more cold than usual, your stones and mortar will be decaying faster.
Reduce mortar decay
You can help your stonework and save yourself from expensive repair bills by seeing the problems earlier on. This way, you can uphold your mortars’ strength and lessen the expense.
You need to see if your mortar is:
- Cracking
- Crumbling
- Falling out
- Missing (gaps)
If you are seeing any of these happening, now is the time to take action before your stones start shifting and falling. This way, you can prevent having to replace and repair stones unnecessarily and reduce mortar decay in your walls.
One approach to reduce mortar decay is to provide some protection for your walls from the elements. This may mean creating structures or adding trees and hedges to negate the effects of wind and rain; used like a barrier.
But if you are seeing any mortar issues occurring now, you can have your stones re-pointed using a lime based mortar. This will keep your structures stronger for many extra years and protect your valuable stones for longer.
Worth A Read: The history of Tweedale Court
Worth A Read: Why we use Lime Mortar versus Concrete Mortar
Why Choose Us:
- We have over 30 years hands-on experience as stonemasons
- We have a full range of expert stonemasonry and sandstone restoration skills
- We only use lime mortar for re-pointing, sandstone repairs and building work
- We choose our team based on the quality of their work and quality of their character
- Flexible Quoting: we come at a time that suits you, even on the same day if required
Stone Repairs
Do your stones’ need repairing due to weathering and old age? If so, we can bring them back to new again. As James Allan Stonemasons (Edinburgh), we can offer you two effective methods for repairing your stones, which are part Indenting and lithomex.
Lime Pointing
Properly executed Lime Repointing of masonry using lime mortars is critical to the long term health of stone structures. It is strongly advised that repointing is carried out using proper lime mortars & correct technique and preparation.
Church Stone Repairs
Repairs to churches call on every type of stonemasonry skill imaginable, including stone replacement, stone restoration, stone carving and lime pointing. We are able to carry out the stonemasonry restoration of our city’s churches.