Zoe Heslop, Author at Sympathetic Works Ltd

How to have a cost effective heritage refurb?

by Zoe Heslop | Mar 14, 2022 | Blog

Excited to buy a listed building, well hold on right there… Let’s stop and count the cost.

When buying a heritage building it can seem like a great investment yet it can be a drain on your purse if you’re not careful.

There are so many stories where people have gone and bought an old run down house, mill, or stables and they have transformed it back to it prime or in some cases better.

Hearing these stories it gives us a warm glow and a desire to do the same, but what we don’t hear is the cost of the projects, the mistakes that knock costing into the rafters.

So What about the cost? When you own a heritage building you better have money to burn. Yes, that’s right; it’s not a cheap thing owning an old building.

One homeowner found out the hard way.

A real costly experience

Renovating his heritage house a Gentleman went in search of a professional. The homeowner had not realised the magnitude of the skilled work that was needed to restore his listed home but was determined to save cost and do the prep work himself.

So what did the homeowner do…?

Well, he hired… His nephew… Yes, that’s right his nephew was hired to do the prep works.

The young lad had no skills in modern or traditional building work. So you can just imagine what disasters would befall.

For a while, all seemed to go well.

Dutifully the nephew got to work removing the rouble, upon doing this the young lad discovered plaster snot on the back of the wooden slats.

Now if you know anything about lath and plaster, you will know this is not a good idea. Why? let go on with the story.

So the nephew proud of his hard day’s graft, called his uncle to look at this now snot free cavity; can you imagine the joy on the homeowners face?

Happy with this prep work, the homeowner then called in the professional.

Call in the Professional

After seeing the snot free cavity the professional was in utter shock that the ceiling had not collapsed.

The plaster that had dripped over the back of the lath was a support keeping the plaster to the wall. And the nephew didn’t just do a small section; No, he did the whole ceiling.

Now, what could this homeowner do?

Thankfully the builder knew the skills to fix this problem.

Stabilising the ceiling required metal pins to be inserted every 30 meters.

This resulted in more expense than the original quotation.

The ceiling would never be as strong as it had once been but the homeowner can now rest soundly knowing the plaster would not crumble and collapse on him.

Skill = Quality

Many think they are saving money doing simple works themselves without the correct training but when it comes to traditionally built structures heritage skills and experience are a must.

For these skills and materials, they come at a cost.

Quality doesn’t come cheap, but it is cheaper than having to fix what didn’t need doing. A hard lesson to learn but it is all worth it in the end.

Now if you own a heritage building, work in the building industry or just interested in old buildings, take note there are courses you can attend to widen your skills. Learn to maintain Lath and Plaster, Understand lime and how to use it, or just basic heritage maintenance skills.

You can develop the skills to maintain your own heritage building.

Contractors should be check for training in the traditional skills.

Knowing you have the right people on the job will help you feel in control of your renovation.

And not end up with the possibility of your wall collapsing in.

More information

If you are interested in learning more about tradition construction skill why not check out our courses page and see what is available for you. If you cant find anything then email us and see what we can do for you. The story was shared by a member of the Traditional Plasters Guide who was the professional on the job.

The Construction Development Alliance (CDA) Awards Evening 2018

by Zoe Heslop | Jun 14, 2018 | Blog

We are happy to be a part of the Construction Development Alliance (CDA).

One of the reasons is because we are among like-minded construction professionals who are eager to congratulate young individuals who strike to be the best in their fields.

Thursday 24th May 2018 the CDA conducted their bi-annual Young Persons in Construction Awards.

Along with the CDA members were guests from all over the north-west.

In attendance this year was the Chartered Institute of Buildings (CIOB) which is a great privilege for the young professional as they can build on their networks with the chartered building experts.

The Event

The highlighted talk for the evening was Women in Construction.

Along the lines of women in male-oriented roles, the special guest host was none other than Ms Charlie Dimmock from Ground Force.

We were entertained by the story of how she came to be on Ground Force, she shared many bloopers during her career.

Her stories are funny and memorable, we were very impressed with Ms Dimmock.

Charlie Dimmock giving her presentation.

To talk about the benefits of women in construction Chair Emily Millar of Hawthorn Estates.

The Awards

Overcoming Diversity – Jack Silcox
Apprentice – Megan Talbot
Construction Professional – Brad Lees
Construction Environmentalist – Caitlin Thompson
Designer – Micheal Burdaky
Highly Commended Apprentice in Construction – Conor Birtwistle.

Our overall winner when to Jack Silcox.

The members of the CDA are determined to support young people in construction to achieve higher and to create those long lasting business connections that will benefit them in their future plans.

The Charity

This year the charity was the YMCA Housing. So, the amount raised during the awards was £1753.00

If you would like to donate to this charity please follow this link.

There were 11 hampers – eg. picknick, barbeque, bathroom, celebration etc.

A Lollipop Topiary Tree was also up to be won on the night.

The winners of the hampers had received the sponsors business leaflets along with lots of different treats. (depending on what hamper they won)

At the end of the event, the CDA happy donated the Flower arrangements to the Pendall Side Hospice in Burnley.

Construction Development Alliance Awards Nominations

by Zoe Heslop | Mar 28, 2018 | Blog

The Construction Development Alliance (CDA) are hosting awards on the 24th May 2018.

It is held every two years to congratulate five construction individuals on their hard work and determination in the construction field.

There are few awards in the country for young individuals and the CDA are excited to be among the few that can contribute to supporting them as well as helping a local charity.

This year’s awards will be held at the Burnley Mechanics.

If you know of an exceptional young construction individual why not nominate them now! the deadline is fast approaching.

Apply By!

Day(s)

Hour(s)

Minute(s)

Second(s)

Show your support for the young construction people.

The guest host for this years event is Charlie Dimmock from ‘Ground Force’, she along with the award sponsor will hand the award to the winner.

Charity

This year the chosen charity is YMCA Housing Trust.

Annual Traditional Plastering Craft Gathering

by Zoe Heslop | Sep 26, 2017 | Blog

The Annual ‘Gathering’ of the New Guild for the Traditional Plastering Craft, was held this year on September 8-9 2017. The venue was the Heritage Craft Alliance training centre in Thorpe Perrow in Bedale, North Yorkshire.

Mr. Glenn Young the founder welcomed us, to this specialist training centre. He explained the need for such craft based training, also the focus and development of the centre.

The setting of the centre is ideal as traditional building are available for repair and renovation.

The guild took a big step forward with the selection of a chairman and committee of who can drive its development. Philip Gaches explained that with an increasing membership and work load, it seemed the right time for him to take on a smaller role allowing other members to move the guild forward.

The Program

The 2 day program began with slide shows and discussions by experienced craftspeople who are leaders in their particular fields, the presentations outlined the work methods that were employed to overcome problems, selection of materials and techniques used.

The sessions were then followed up by practical demonstrations in the centres workshops.

Practical Demonstations

Mr. Keith Langton open the Friday with a demonstration of using a variety of mounds for casting, and the methods and techniques in using plaster and Jesomite products. This included the use of traditional reinforcing materials such as the traditional timber lath, hessian, cotton and the more modern GRG (Glass Reinforced Gypsum) fibre mesh.

Mr. Mark McCorrie demonstrated methods of dealing with plaster lath ceilings that need remedial work to stabilise them. The problems of water penetration, infestation, lath failure to other trades damaging the historic fabric were discussed and methods old and new discussed. Mark reviewed his methods developed from his personal experience. (Photographs show Demonstration of mechanical and resin based fixing methods and solutions). Main point was how to preserve historic ceilings and decorative plasterwork often attached to them with minimal intervention. A very interesting session and lively discussion followed as to the pros and cons of the various methods and techniques.

Pargetting

One of the best known practitioners of Pargetting in the country is Bill Sergeant provided an insight into the historic decorative external lime work he and his team had carried out. Using a small lath panel prepared with a lime mortar floating coat, scratched an outline of the design. Then built up the layers of lime mortar then after completing the design applied a hot lime wash over surface. Bill has been feature on a number of TV programmes over the years.

Andrew Fawcett who works closely with Bill Sergeant, provided an insight into the application of the application of frescos, it limitations and it development from famous examples in Italy, to the history of painted lime plastered wall surfaces.

Phil Gaches and George O’Malley concluded the session with a reminder about how to maintain and length our working lives. Reminding us of our hand board skills and the fewer the movements the less wear and tear.

Kevin and Bill took the opportunity of wearing our new corporate sweat shirts.

Sympathetic works ltd was represented by Kevin Millar and Bill Oakes. We would like to thank all who made the two days instructive and enjoyable.

The New Guild for the Traditional Plastering Craft.

National Heritage Training Group.

Princes foundation. Email

Bacup: Lime Pointing Day

by Zoe Heslop | Jul 12, 2017 | Courses

Bacup THI Project Manager Megan Eastwood, arranged a Lime Pointing Day with the present owner of St Johns the Evangelist, a Grade 2 listed building.

This former church provided the ideal venue for highlighting the challenges faced by home owners and construction professionals.

Constructed in the early 1880s, the present building was a replacement for an earlier church that had been destroyed by fire. The building added to historical context of the day and importance of using compatible materials when carrying out renovation and repair work.

Programme:

The programme began with an introduction to the use of lime in the preservation of historic buildings.
Why the renewal of interest in using hot lime mortars in the context of heritage and historic properties?
The disadvantages of using modern materials such as (OPC) cements on heritage buildings, and resulting damage created.
How lime mortars allow vapour evaporation from a building and added flexibility in the structure.
How Lime pointing could be ‘sacrificial’ and thus avoid costly damage to the stone work.
Importance of sourcing local/vernacular materials.

Sympathetic Works: Instructors Bill & Kevin.

Delegates sitting in the original pews.

Our Host Mr Freddie Khattab presented a history of the building, the work he has undertaken including the challenges of ongoing work and his future plans for the building.

Demonstration:

Mixing quicklime with sand and adding water, the resulting chemical reaction causes the lime to heat or ‘boil’ and steam is given off, this process is called ‘slaking’.

The lime expands during the slaking process which gives us a richer lime mortar making it more flexible.

After leaving it to cool for about 30 minutes we used the ‘hot’ lime mortar for our practical session. Many delegates’ commented on how easy it was to handle.

We reviewed the methods of removing the older pointing, especially if it was cement based. The challenge is to avoid or minimise damage to stonework, using hand tools and chisels.

After a demonstration of how pointing can be applied, the delegates had a go!

Because some of the joints were very deep, over 25mm, the instructor explained the need to move in stages. This was due the need for lime mortars to be exposed to the atmosphere, as the mix set’s by a chemical process that requires exposure to carbon dioxide. This process of ‘carbonisation’ is needed by air set limes i.e. Hot and putty limes.

The practical demonstrations and ‘hands on’ session.

All had a good time, many really got stuck in!

The white lime rich mortar stood out in stark contrast to the original stonework (see photographs).

What was the answer? The next part of the process is to use a churn brush, which is vital for 2 things; 1) consolidating the pointing 2) exposes the sand, and blends the colour. (See photo) Sand was sourced locally and was part of the specified materials being used for the restoration work in Bacup town centre.

We would like to express appreciation to Megan and Freddie for making it such a pleasurable day, even the weather was kind us.

All delegates received a certificate of attendance, on behalf of Sympathetic Works and Bacup THI.

Useful sources of information

Buildings Lime Forum. website.
Historic England publication: Repointing Brick and Stone Walls.

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