There is no substitute for getting up close and personal with your building, to get an understanding of its materials and its current condition.
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From a distance, with binoculars and experience, you can spot elements that look suspicious and are likely to need repair. This stone high up on the chimney looks a bit eroded, not in the worst condition though. You might expect that the rough edges could be redressed by a stone mason, remove the cement and repoint with lime and it would be good to go for another 100 years.
Up close you can feel the stone, literally. Rub your hands across the surface and immediately you understand that the entire face of the stone has delaminated and is barely attached. It feels unstable. The whole stone will have to come out and a new stone matched and indented.
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It is important to get a matching replacement stone as an incompatible stone will cause more damage to the surrounding stonework. It can take 4 or 5 weeks to get a sample analysed. When you know the type and quantity of stone you require, it can then take another 8-10 weeks for delivery of your stone order from the quarry.
When a stone comes down unexpectedly, you may have to erect a scaffold to protect public safety until a repair is organised. Building work can be expensive without having to pay for a scaffold for all the weeks you are waiting.
We caught this early, as part of a scheduled building inspection. With our experience, we were able to identify that this was a potential problem and arranged a more detailed investigation to establish the full extent of work that would be required. That means we are able deal with in in an organised manner, picking up a few other maintenance issues while we are at it. Leave it and the face could fall off unexpectedly, damaging other materials as it falls or worse causing injury to somebody below.
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MAAC studio are accredited conservation architects and principal designers working with traditional buildings throughout Scotland.
If you need independent advice give us a call ?
