Render removal London terrace, and new bay window
Pictured: Render removed, and new bay window by London Stonemasonry
For Sarah in Quick Road, Chiswick, we removed the green render from her treasured terraced home, and created and installed a new stone bay window.
Sarah was great to work for. She writes:
My Victorian terraced house had been badly cared for over the years with render instead of brickwork and a re-modelled bay that no longer could take a sash window. When the 1970s windows started to crumble I decided that it was time to restore the house to its former glory.
I found London Stonemasonry and was immediately impressed by their understanding of the job at hand and their non-pushy approach. Will was a font of knowledge, and as I got to meet his team they also displayed a passion in renovation – with a love of the materials that they work with.
Every hiccough the house delivered was met with a calm focus on solutions. As they painstakingly removed the render from the outside people started to comment on the care that was going into the work. The new brick slips were chosen to exactly match the neighbouring property, and Will made sure I was absolutely happy with the colour before proceeding.
The new bay window itself is a testament to the skill of these amazing stonemasons. The Bath stone they used is beautiful and adds a warmth to the house. Its carving is exquisite and matches all the details of neighbouring properties and is precision perfect – when my new sash windows were fitted the company commented that they had never fitted a window where no adjustments were necessary.
The added bonus of using London Stonemasonry was that their team could handle all aspects of the renovation – from removal of the render, rebuilding and damp proofing the bay window, re-roofing the structure and making good inside my home.
I wholeheartedly recommend their skills to anyone who is looking to do a similar project.
Before and after photo: Render removal and brick restoration
About our work on this project
Sarah the homeowner had lived in the property for several years and had long wished to return it to its original Victorian-period appearance. She asked us to remove the render from the brick facade, and to create and install a new stone bay window.
While we carved the new bay window at our workshop, we began the project on-site, by removing some of the render to see what state the brickwork was in.
When applying render, the goal is to get it to adhere to the surface as best as possible. To do this, additives are used which helps the mortar to stick to the render. Unfortunately, due to this adhesion, when the render is removed, the face on the bricks behind can be removed too. Initially, when removing the render at the top of the building it was coming away without too much damage but by half way down the facade it was clear that brick repairs would not be sufficient. Even though a hammer and bolster was used to minimise damage, the face of the bricks beneath the render were far too disfigured.
Pictured: Brickwork revealed, under the render
After consultation with the homeowner, a brick was chosen that best matched the original and brick slips were cut from them by a specialist brick cutting contractor. The buildings facade was then cut back to a uniform depth.
To apply the slips to the existing bricks, we used a high strength water resistant adhesive, which was selected after consultation with a technical expert. The product is often used for tiling commercial swimming pools.
After we had installed the majority of the brick slips, the bay window was installed, and completed with slate tiled roof work.
This project took over two months to complete from start to finish. The homeowner remained positive from start to finish despite enduring several long and dusty days. However, upon completion we’ve been given a glowing reference for our efforts which makes it all worthwhile!
More photos from the render removal and new bay window project
Pictured: Bricks revealed, under the green render
Pictured: Carvings for the new bay window, and the new bay window by London Stonemasonry
See also
Project summary
London Stonemasonry removed the green render from a treasured terraced home, restored the brickwork and created and installed a new stone bay window. Quick Road, Chiswick, W4 postcode.
