I and R Masonry Cob Repairs
Cob wall repairs, Render and Lime wash.
Cob walls are basically built with earth from the local area and need a breathable lime render with lime wash to protect them.
Over the years some Cob walls have been rendered in modern cement which does not let water out and can make the Cob unstable. Cement is also much harder and brittle than a lime mortar.
Lime wash paint can protect by being able to shed some rain and let any moisture escape through it as well.
Cob repair
This wall is Grade 2 listed
Before
Here the render is too hard and brittle for the Cob and has cracked and is falling away, allowing water in, but it does not let it back out which in turn damages the earth wall inside.
The picture above shows we have now put a new Lime render on.
Above shows the finished repair complete with Lime wash paint.
All we have to do is clean up and move on to the next section of this wall, and do the same on the other side.
All finished on this part of the Cob repair, the darker patches on the wall are where the Cob is not fully dried yet, also this picture is showing the reflections and shadows of the bush to the right.
Cob wall restoration near Salisbury
This is a Cob wall but has been badly repaired in the past, it has brick panels in areas. Obviously the Cob was too far gone and they bricked it up well over a hundred years ago. As the wall is listed we have to repair it like for like, except for the modern repair to the right. There is also very hard cement render that has to be replaced with lime.
Various stages of repair.
Below we have taken the modern repair down.
It was decided that we build a herringbone panel where a poor modern repair was made as either side did not match up to courses to put in straight courses. We have rerendered the panel in the middle with lime mortar.
Repair done, all we have to do is lime wash the new render and clean up and install a new Oak beam to replace the rotten one.
