Listed Buildings · West Dorset & East Devon

Listed buildings, done the way the consent is written

Repairs, renovations and conversions of listed buildings across West Dorset and East Devon. Rubble stone repointed and rebuilt in lime, chimneys taken down and put back up, lime plaster and lime render inside and out, and structural repairs carried out so they read as though they have always been there. We work to the listed building consent and the conservation officer's conditions, and we tell you when a detail on the drawings will not pass.

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Stone chimney stack rebuilt in local rubble stone with a new cap and clay pot, Chapman Building & Plastering Ltd

Whole projects, start to finishFootings, shell, roof, plastering and every trade in between

What is included

Every listed building project, covered

Stone repairs and rebuilding

Local rubble stone laid and pointed by hand in lime mortar. Bulging walls taken down and rebuilt, chimney stacks rebuilt and capped, quoins and lintels replaced with matching stone.

Lime plaster and lime render

Haired lime plaster on lath or onto stone, lime render outside, and limewash finishes. Cement is kept off old walls so the building can keep breathing.

Working with the consent

We read the listed building consent and the conservation officer's conditions before we price, and we build to them. If the consent says a material or a method, that is what goes in.

Structural repairs

Timber frames, purlins and floor joists repaired or replaced with matching timber, steel introduced only where the engineer and the consent allow it, and everything recorded for the file.

Conversions and extensions to listed houses

Barns, outbuildings and additions to listed houses, designed and built to sit with the original. The new work is honest about being new, but it does not shout.

Chimneys, roofs and leadwork

Stacks rebuilt, pots reset, natural slate and clay tile roofs relaid and the leadwork detailed properly, so the top of the building is as sound as the walls.

Recent work

Listed Buildings, on site and finished

Converted stone barn with slate roof and rooflight on a frosty morning, West Dorset — Converted stone barn on a frosty morning

Stone barn with slate roof before conversion work started — Stone barn before work started

New timber roof structure going on a stone barn, scaffolded — New roof structure going on the barn

Natural slate roof with an oak-boarded dormer and new guttering — Slate and oak dormer detail

Grey composite door set in a dressed stone surround — Composite door in a dressed stone surround

Chimney stack rebuilt in stone with a new cap and clay pot — Stack rebuilt and capped

Tap any photo to open it. The full set is on the homepage gallery.

Questions

Asked and answered

Do I need listed building consent for repairs?

Like for like repairs using the same materials usually do not need consent, but anything that alters the character of the building, inside or out, does. If you are not sure, ask us before the work starts. We have been through the process many times and can tell you where the line usually falls with the local conservation officers.

Why do you use lime rather than cement on old buildings?

Because old stone and cob walls need to breathe. Cement render and cement pointing trap moisture in the wall, which is what causes the damp and the spalling stone you see on badly repaired cottages. Lime lets the moisture out, moves with the building, and is what the wall was built with in the first place.

Can you match the existing stone and pointing?

Yes. We source rubble stone locally, dress it by hand and point it in a lime mix matched to the original by colour and texture. The aim is that in a year you cannot see where the repair was.

Do you work with conservation officers and architects?

All the time. We build from the conservation architect's drawings and specification, and we are used to conservation officers visiting during the work. Where something on site does not match the consent, we stop and raise it rather than carry on.

Which areas do you cover for listed building work?

West Dorset and East Devon, where a great deal of the housing stock is listed or in a conservation area. Bridport, Beaminster, Axminster, Lyme Regis, Colyton and the villages between them are all regular work for us.

Do you also do ordinary building work on listed houses?

Yes. Kitchens, bathrooms, extensions and full renovations of listed houses are a large part of what we do. The difference is in the materials and the care taken, not in the range of work.

Where we work

Listed Buildings across West Dorset and East Devon

Based between Axminster and Bridport, so both towns and everything between them is on the doorstep, and Lyme Regis, Beaminster, Seaton and Crewkerne are all a normal run. If your village is not on the list, ask anyway.

Bridport Axminster Lyme Regis Charmouth Marshwood Vale Beaminster Chideock Symondsbury West Bay Burton Bradstock Whitchurch Canonicorum Morcombelake Wootton Fitzpaine Broadwindsor Netherbury Powerstock Loders Bothenhampton Eype Uplyme Musbury Colyton Seaton Chard Crewkerne Dorchester

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