Chingford Station Road Restoration
Square Bay, Octagonal Bay
Station Road FINISHED
A really unusual design where the bay is square on the ground storey and octagonal on the first floor. The stone had eroded much more on the left hand side for some reason. The owners had started the process by stripping paint but with busy lives it had become too much so I was called in.
Most of the stone was in good shape but some needed replacing, especially the first storey sills and the copings- in fact, any ledges which had taken the worst of the weather over the last 130 years.
Original worn bases
This coping has completely disintegrated
New Bath Stone elements
New stone was worked to replace the worn and bedded using lime mortar. The stone had discoloured with several layers of paint and a variety of compounds used to fill and ‘repair’ it over the years. I persuaded the clients to use a sheltercoat rather than paint. A sheltercoat is a traditional sacrificial coat comprised of slaked lime, stone dust, sand and milk (!). The mild reacts with the lime and forms a protective coating that binds to the stone but allows it to breathe. It also has the advantage that it is the same colour as the stone and makes it uniform. It is not opaque like paint however, but is a more sympathetic and restorative solution.
New stone indents on the column bases
Lintels have been stripped and are awaiting the sheltercoat
New string course retrun
Lintels having been sheltercoated
