Based in Cornwall we specialise in conservation, restoration and applying traditional techniques to new builds. We have managed sites from ruin to homes, working to an extremely high standard and quality, working closely with building control and conservation officers
The drapery Redruth

The drapery Redruth

When Stephen told me he had bought the old drapery in Redruth I was keen to get involved with the Renovation. The garden was badly overgrown as you can see from the pictures. Once they had striped back the foliage the stonework revealed was fairly unsightly and in poor shape....
Repair to powder house.

Repair to powder house.

This powder house had fallen into disrepair. Many years ago somebody replaced the roof and forgot to put collars on the truss. Over time this caused the building to move and crack. We repaired the cracks by infilling and rebuilding sections using helbar to stitch it all back together. We...
Hobbit hole.

Hobbit hole.

We were asked by a fantasy writer if we could build him a garden wall that wouldn’t look untoward with a golem standing on it or a hobbit walking through. The door is designed around hobbit hole in The lords of the rings. The alcoves and stone work are beautifully...
Vine Cottage. Cob Repair

Vine Cottage. Cob Repair

Vine cottage is one of the oldest cottages in Newlyn. When the present owners applied for a mortgage the surveyor discovered that the cob had been cement rendered. As a condition of the mortgage he specified that the cement was removed and replaced with lime mortar. At this point the...

Swan Pool St. From pebbledash with love.

This property was in a rather sorry state prior to us removing the pebble dash and fully Renovating it’s exterior. In the 1960s it had had a cement based false Georgian facade created. Everything was cement including the cills. We had to stitch together a reasonable amount of cracks with heli bar. We decided to repair the window reveals as the brick underneath was weak and removing the mortar would have destroyed the reveals. Around the back we had to rebuild the reveals and replace lintels. We replaced all the window cills with natural slate. We replaced the windows on the higher property and fitted new rainwater goods. These were plastic cast iron effect gutters and down pipes and plastic black wood effect facia. We also removed an unused damp chimney between the two property’s. The remaining chimneys we have two coats of a mesh reinforced polymer coating. This is...
Country mansion house

Country mansion house

A few shots from a line render job on a beautiful country house near Truro. All hand formed corners onto brickwork. High end finish
Bag rub render.

Bag rub render.

Bag rub render or ragging is a brilliant way to create a beautifully traditional breathable render. It can hide a multitude of sins such as previously botched opening infills, damaged stone work, cement lintels or even block extensions. Historically almost all Cornish granite buildings were ragged then painted in milk...
Lower Town

Lower Town

View from kitchen Lime and timber Natural slate floor. Master bedroom with reclaimed victorian fire place. All the timber in this property came from a locally fallen tree. All structural timber, stairs and porch out of the same tree. the second room downstairs with a new opening to the courtyard...
Colenso Cottage

Colenso Cottage

This was a lovely little project . We worked alongside a standard builder. ragging the outside and pointing up the stairs and the Inglnook. The areas of lime pointing and the use of lighting have really worked giving this house a lovely feel. The sunlight on lime pointing up on...
Rosevidney Manor. Pointing job.

Rosevidney Manor. Pointing job.

 We are hacking out and repointing two sections of different ages. One section was built in the 17 hundreds. The other is Edwardian. We are attacking the Edwardian section first. This is challenging due to the hardness of the point being removed. And the small size of the stone.
Balwest Church Rooms

Balwest Church Rooms

We lime ragged this old Sunday school. Then Painted it with beeks beakasil hydrophobic lime wash.      The methodist committee and the architects were very pleased with the result   Six months on and you still need sunglasses when looking at the building in a sunny day. 
Trevorgans surf shack

Trevorgans surf shack

This was a a beautiful but damp little property. We repointed and ragged the exterior, Rebuilt the steps, And Lime grouted the walls.            
The Old Post Office St Erth

The Old Post Office St Erth

On this project we repointed the whole building. We also rebuilt a chimney with a lead tray and a lead skirt to match the existing chimneys to the front of the property.                                      ...
Cathy and Pat's farmouse renovation

Cathy and Pat’s farmouse renovation

  This has been one of our most challenging jobs to date . It has involved the complete renovation of a beautiful farm house situated in a very exposed position. We have replaced the roof, removed all external pointing , re pointed and rendered with lime then clad it in...
Cob Mill

Cob Mill

This was a lovely little project. Using lime render and Ragging. We had to remove a fig growing in part of the wall.
Tim and Ruths Barn

Tim and Ruths Barn

Tim and Ruths barn was lovingly restored by the Cornish Lime Builders
Lime Pointing

Lime Pointing

We at the Cornish lime builders pride ourselves on being at the height of our game when it comes to lime pointing. Our finishes are both beautiful and expertly finished. Being both durable and consistent. We focus on getting the stone as clean as possible ,hacking out and properly cleaning the joints...
Latest entries
Bag rubbed section of wall to cure damp problem.

Bag rubbed section of wall to cure damp problem.

We bag rubbed this small section to deal with a localised damp issue.
Gabel end and chimney rebuild.

Gabel end and chimney rebuild.

The gabel end of this end of terrace was suffering from serious damp. We diagnosed a leaky chimney and a failing cement render. After rebuilding the chimney building in a lead tray we bag rub rendered the gabel and then lime painted it with beecks beeckacil colour 101 old white. Job done. All damp has...
Lime Pointing

Lime Pointing

Here are a selection of pointing jobs we have completed over the years.   This is a pointing recipe of my own invention.   I was very pleased with the aesthetic on this job.   Here is an action shot of an ongoing internal pointing job.   It took some painstaking cleaning of this very...

Recent Technical Issues

Due to a catastrophic error the last two years of my blog have been lost into the digital graveyard. I have started to attempt to reconstruct the blog covering the last few years projects. Over the next few weeks I hope to post about a couple of large projects I have recently been working on...
Front garden revamp with a Granite wall and a sunken garden

Front garden revamp with a Granite wall and a sunken garden

I was asked to build a stone wall out of begged borrowed and found granite. The mix of stone resulted in an attractive wall. I then constructed a sunken garden out of granite walls with built in slate seating. It is now a private place to relax out of the wind in a previously exposed...
Copper works office Hayle.

Copper works office Hayle.

A lovly sea faring couple brought this house and wanted to sort out there damp issues along with giving there property a facelift. We started the hack out off the deck prior to erecting the Scafolding to save money on scafold hire and start the drying process ASAP. Once the scafold was up we stripped...

Nancherow cottage rejuvenation. 

A wonderful couple have bought this charming cottage in tregeseal.  There plan is to retire here. So we are aiming to give the cottage a new life. Lime rendering and plastering on the interior. While lime pointing the front. And cleaning off and repointing the Scantlel roof.  It’s nice to be able to use lime...
Secret location in Devon.

Secret location in Devon.

I picked up a Wee bit of render up on a Manor House in Devon.  3 coat lime render all applied with a spray gun.  It is rather a gritty mix. But I have a gritty crew to apply it.  All hand finished no beading. Fun and games.  Can’t wait to get a shot once...
Finally back from my wedding festivities. 

Finally back from my wedding festivities. 

     I’m terribly sorry if I haven’t answered your calls or emails over the last couple of weeks.  I’ve been in the procces of tying the knot with my lovly wife.  My head has been in the clouds but I am returning to Earth to pick up my trowel.  Bussiness as usual. 
Out door conservatory

Out door conservatory

Geoff back on the tools.

Geoff back on the tools.

Geoff worked with us 7 years ago. We reconnected recently and he expressed a desire to get back on the lime. A lovly little cottage repoint came up just round the corner from him and hay presto. Really glad to have him back on the team.   We are lime pointing the bottom of the wall....
One then two cottages repointed near Cott Vally in St Just.

One then two cottages repointed near Cott Vally in St Just.

A lovly couple contacted me concerning there damp unsightly front of cottage. We gave them a price to repoint and there neighbour decided to get there’s repointed too!!   Here are a couple of photos of the state of the pointing to start with.    Standard hack out /jet wash. Then a touch with a needle...