This ended up being quite a lot of work and an example of uncovering issues as the job progresses. The fireplace is primarily coursed limestone with a beautiful elm lintel. The wood burner is, of course, a later addition to what would have originally been a spacious open fire. It has a seat either side within the inglenook. The outside face of the fireplace has been built out in recent years which is made more obvious with the unmatched mortars in the following images. The most recent pointing as well as the built additions are unfortunately done with cement based mortars. There is a cement-based render across most of the back wall and the left hand seat has been rebuilt.
The Rake Out:
This is normally the time to discover exactly what the job entails. In this case, all the cement-based pointing was removed as well as the grey render either side of the fireplace.
Removal of the cement pointing revealed the original earth/lime mortar, obvious for its brown colour and incredibly soft nature. This is what the house was built with. It's so important to point over this with an appropriately chosen lime mortar.
The right hand strip of render was removed to reveal the original stone whilst the left hand side has been rebuilt in brick. This is estimated to be an alteration from the 50s-60s (Judged by the discovered chocolate wrapper shown in the following images). The decision was made to restore this back to coursed limestone.
The Repoint:
The left hand brickwork was removed and rebuilt in limestone. This fireplace was repointed with a beautiful mix of sands and lime putty, one of the more breathable and flexible limes.
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