Surface restoration

Hollow or “blown” plaster, where it has come away from the wall behind, is found by tapping and cut back to sound edges. Small repairs are made in a material compatible with the original — lime where the wall is lime, gypsum where it is gypsum — because the two behave differently, particularly where there is moisture. Larger areas, or ceilings where lath and plaster has sagged, are work for a plasterer, and we will say so.

Small chips and losses in a cornice can be modelled in place by hand. Longer missing lengths are run in situ with a profile cut to match the existing section, or cast from a mould taken from a sound length, then fixed and blended in. Complex or badly damaged plasterwork is work for a specialist fibrous plasterer, whom we can coordinate as part of the project. Once repaired, the plasterwork is decorated as described under walls and ceilings.

Decay in joinery is most common at the foot of doors and door frames, in window sills and in the bottom rails of sashes. Soft timber is cut back to sound wood; small losses are rebuilt with a resin repair system, and larger ones spliced with new timber of a matching species. Where decay is extensive, a joiner replaces the section. The cause — a failed seal, a blocked drip, a leaking gutter — needs dealing with too, or the repair will not last.

Our starting point is to keep original fabric wherever it is sound. Filler suits small defects; repairs suit localised decay or damage; replacement is for sections that can no longer do their job. In listed buildings the balance matters more, since historic fabric may be protected; see period properties.