Lime repointing of a large garden wall

Case study

The brief

This large garden wall in Hampton had lost a lot of its original lime mortar. Years of weather had washed the joints back, leaving open beds that were letting water sit in the wall. The owner wanted it repaired properly in lime rather than patched in cement, so the wall could carry on breathing as it always had.

The work we carried out

• Raked out all the old, perished lime mortar by hand to a consistent depth, taking care not to damage the arrises of the soft stock bricks.
• Brushed and flushed out the open joints so the new mortar had a clean, dust-free key.
• Mixed a lime mortar matched to the original for colour, texture and strength, so the repair would move with the wall rather than against it.
• Repointed the full wall in lime, finished with a flush joint in keeping with the original pointing.
• Kept the new work protected and damp while it cured, so the lime set slowly and evenly.
• Brushed the face of the brickwork down and left the garden clean and tidy on completion.

The result

The wall now reads as one consistent elevation again, with crisp flush lime joints instead of open, crumbling beds. Water sheds off the face rather than sitting in the joints, and because the pointing is lime the wall can breathe and move as it was built to.