Specialists in Period Property Restoration, Refurbishment & Maintenance Management
If you're planning a restoration or refurbishment project on a period property, we are the expert contractors for the job. We also offer a comprehensive specialist maintenance service, ensuring the ongoing protection and preservation of period homes.
Damp Proofing – The Sustainable, Long-Term Approach
Damp in a period property isn’t just a moisture issue—it’s often a symptom of incompatible materials or poor maintenance. A sustainable, breathable damp proofing system supports the building’s health, maintains its character, and protects its structural integrity.
Comprehensive Project Management
We act as Principal Contractors for listed and heritage buildings, specialising in historic property restorations. From full-scale projects to smaller, sensitive interventions, we manage every stage—coordinating trusted trades and using traditional, breathable materials to support the building’s health and help eliminate damp issues. Every detail is delivered to the highest standard, with complete respect for the building’s integrity and historic character.
Certified & Experienced
We are fully certified in on-site Health and Safety protocols and have extensive experience working alongside:
Architects
Structural Engineers
Project Managers
Third-Party Consultants
We understand the unique demands of heritage buildings and are committed to preserving their character while delivering modern performance.
Maintenance Management
Ongoing and appropriate maintenance is essential for the care of any building, particularly period properties. We offer a comprehensive, specialist maintenance programme designed to protect against deterioration — especially issues related to damp, which can cause significant damage if left untreated. Our service ensures the continued preservation, integrity, and value of your home or investment.
Services
External Lime Rendering
We care about the appearance of your home as much as you do. That’s why we avoid using angle beads—instead, we hand-shape every detail to follow the natural contours of your property, preserving its unique character and style. Each render is custom-made using our own carefully selected aggregates, tailored specifically to suit your individual project.
Laths, Boards & Backgrounds
We can restore, renew or completely replace lath ceilings and walls using oak or chestnut riven laths. We offer the application of modern boards and backgrounds, such as; wood wool, pavadentra and cork. All are breathable, and have a lower environmental impact over plasterboard. These wall fabrics also provide a viable way of retro fitting insulation to a property.
Masonry Repairs
We provide specialist masonry services for historic and listed buildings, encompassing the removal of modern coatings, the repair and restoration of brick and stonework, repointing with lime mortars, and the faithful reinstatement of architectural detail—all executed with due regard for traditional craftsmanship and materials.
Carpentry & Joinery
We provide expert carpentry and joinery services tailored to the sensitive restoration of listed buildings, using traditional methods and materials to preserve their original character and architectural integrity. Our work includes timber frame repairs, window restoration and renewal, floor repairs, and other bespoke services as required within or on a listed building.
Electrics
We provide discreet and sympathetic electrical services for historic and listed buildings, ensuring modern functionality while preserving the building’s fabric and character. All work is carried out with care, using appropriate methods and materials to minimise visual impact and comply with conservation standards.
Traditional Lime Plastering
We have extensive experience in the sensitive restoration of listed buildings and a deep understanding of the traditional materials they require. Our craftsmen are skilled in the renewal of lath and plaster, lime render, and a variety of lime plasters, as well as both plain and decorative stucco, ornamental features, and architectural plasterwork.
Breathable Decorating
Breathable Finishes for Healthy Homes
The damage caused by plastic-based paints in older buildings is all too often overlooked. These modern coatings can trap moisture, leading to damp issues and deterioration of historic fabric.
Our decorators specialise in the use of breathable finishes, including internal and external lime washes and a range of mineral-based paints. All our coatings are low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), environmentally conscious, and designed to allow traditional buildings to breathe — as they were intended to.
The result? A beautifully finished home that’s as healthy as it is stylish.
Breathe easy in a breathable home.
Thermal Insulating Systems
We specialise in delivering high-performance, breathable thermal insulation systems tailored for period and traditional buildings. Our approach combines the use of lime-based thermal insulating plasters (with certified U-values) and natural materials such as low-toxicity sheep's wool, significantly improving energy performance while preserving the fabric of historic properties.
As registered contractors with Ecological Building Systems, we are accredited to install these systems to the highest standards — ensuring compatibility with heritage construction methods and sustainability best practices.
Lime Pointing
Lime mortar plays a vital role in maintaining the structural health of a building. Its softness allows it to act as a sacrificial element, protecting the surrounding stone or brickwork by absorbing movement and moisture, which helps prevent long-term damage to the fabric of the wall.
When repointing is needed, a soft lime mortar is far less invasive and easier to replace than harder alternatives. We carefully select our mortar mixes to ensure they remain sympathetic and sacrificial to the original masonry. If required, we can arrange for laboratory analysis of your existing bricks and mortar to guide accurate specification. Our repointing not only safeguards the structure but also delivers a beautifully finished aesthetic without compromising functionality.
Period Property Maintenance
At The Breathable House Company, our service begins with an expert on-site consultation. Following this visit, we provide a tailored maintenance advisory report designed to support the long-term care of your period property.
Our comprehensive report includes recommendations for:
Timber window repairs
Patch repointing using traditional lime mortars
Ventilation and airflow assessments
Damp readings and preventative strategies
Draught proofing for comfort and efficiency
Sustainable upgrades to improve energy performance without compromising heritage value
To help protect your home from seasonal damage, we also offer a bi-annual gutter clearing service — an essential step in preventing water ingress and maintaining the integrity of your building fabric.
Lime
At The Breathable House Company a majority of our work involves lime. The superiority of lime renders, plasters, mortars and paints are becoming well documented and the application of lime is not just specifically for use in historic buildings. Traditional lime works are experiencing a notable revival in the building industry today, in recognition of the attributes of lime. We offer our clients a wealth of expertise, accompanied by fine craftsmanship in everything we do.
Breathable Lime.
Lime mediums ‘breathe’, as we say in the industry because they are vapour permeable. This is an immensely important characteristic of lime over cement and gypsum. Cement relies on it’s rigidity to form an impenetrable barrier to water and if this is breached the moisture becomes trapped. Lime allows moisture to disperse from the fabric of a wall. When using lime, time has proven that walls completely dry out, which hugely diminishes the chances of damp, rot, condensation and mould. Not only is lime a better choice for the health of your building, it is a better choice for your health.
At The Breathable House Company we only use breathable materials, all the way through to the decoration.
Lime in historic buildings.
If you live in a house dating from before the mid 19th century, it was most certainly constructed using lime. The chances of your property making it through the 20th century and into the 21st, without being subjected to gypsum or cement repairs or of being redecorated using acrylic or epoxy based paints, are fairly slim. Often these alterations can be damaging and are totally mis-understood. Restorative work in lime will ensure the correct maintenance and furthermore the integrity of any historic building. All our work is carried out with a sympathetic approach to the building, with a priority to preserve and protect.
Lime is Beautiful.
There is nothing quite like a lime finish. The aesthetic of a lime mortar, or the glow of mineral paint and the knowledge that you are sat in a chemical free room, makes lime all that more satisfying.