The old gateway dates from 1693 and once lead to the graveyard at the old All Hallows church which was a Sir Christopher Wren design.
In 1865 the church had to be demolished and rebuilt on a different location and at this point the gate was taken inside.  My role was to carefully clean this incredible piece by drawing out salts with a seaweed poultice and cleaning the ornate carvings with cotton buds and porcupine quills. 
A de-corroding solution was used to treat the iron bars before a coat of crystaline wax was used to protect and revive both the timber and the iron.
It was an honour to be asked to work on such a rare and valuable piece such as this.

This victorian terrace was built in 1980.  The clay red bricks with buff coloured coining and dental details were integral to the design.  The face of many of the bricks had spalled and a  quick remedy had been to cement render the face of the damaged bricks and a cement mortar used to re-point.  White masony paint was then used to cover the repairs.

The paint was stripped off by soda blasting and all the cement mortar raked out.  The damaged bricks were replaced and the façade was re-pointed with a lime mortar that cointained a black aggregate to match similar properties in the area.
The property is now vibrant and charming which is how the Victorians intended it to be.

These Georgian sash windows are huge!  2.6m high and 1.2m wide.  They were deglazed, stripped of flaking paint  with new timber sections fabricated and fitted.  The box frames were refurbished with new sash cords, parting beads and staff beads fitted.
​It was lovely to have the full refurbishment project which included, glazing, painting and refitting.  

​These metal casement windows were severely corroded with the bottom rails completely dissentegrated.
​The glass and window furniture was removed so that the steel frames could be cleaned of all active corrosion.

What a pleasure to work on this classic Victorian house.  The 22 sash windows were in need of refurbishment, numerous bath stone repairs, timber repairs and cast iron rainwater goods refurbished.  
The restoration of the timber orangery was by far the biggest part of the project with 27 rotten windows removed, 57 timber repairs and 198 panes of glass refitted.
The new addition of bilfold doors and custom made verander creates a complimentary link  to the outside space.

This 1870,s gable end was severely rotten and in desperate need of renovation. The left hand side bargeboard was an enormous 16 foot long and 12 x 2 inches in width and thickness.  
The Victorians didnt do things by halves !
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As timber is now cut in metric sizes, this length was ordered specially to match the original.  Although the dental work was not original it had been there for at least 30 years and so was deemed important to duplicate.  The new dental was made by hand in a single, solid and continuous length which will resist weathering for longer.

What a transformation ! My role on this project was to clean centuries of dirt and grime from the stonework using air abrasion.  The masons made a fantastic job of re-working some of the arched openings and repointing with lime mortar.

This project was a labour of love.  My client could see the potential in this carriage and commissioned a full restoration to give it a new life.  As it was concreted into the floor and too remote to be collected by haulage, the entire structure had to be dismantled and re-assembled.  The finishing touches like vents, grills, handles and numbering are still to come.