A Grade II listed sandstone cottage whose joints had been sealed with cement in the 1970s, trapping moisture in the soft local stone.
When we arrived at Elmstone the south elevation was visibly losing face: decades of cement pointing had funnelled rainwater into the body of the stone, eroding it from within. Our first task was patient removal — quill picks and small chisels only, no power tools near the historic fabric.
We repointed in a hot-mixed lime mortar matched to a surviving sample found behind a chimney breast. The new joints are softer than the stone, breathable, and recessed just enough to throw a shadow that reads true to the original work.
The west gable received four light coats of limewash, tinted with yellow ochre to settle the new stone indents back into the wall.