About >> Stone Wall Renovation by Pompey Dream Homes

The Walls

One of the main things that had attracted me to the property was its stone construction. All of the internal walls had been plastered concealing the natural beauty of the granite beneath. I had a plan to expose some walls to add to the appeal of the property. On purchasing the property and on closer inspection I could see that a large proportion of the plastering was in fact dead. This terminology meaning that it was loosely bonded to the wall. This would be easy to remove I thought. Unfortunately other areas were concreted. This was going to be much harder to remove but would when loosened come off in large sections. On my second visit I decided to try and expose one wall in the living room and see how it went. Using a bolster, long cold chisel and mallet I began. The plaster crumbled away fairly easily exposing the solid blocks of granite beneath. Nice I thought.

During the exposure I came across a hidden stone fireplace, which had been blocked over and then plastered. It was pleasing as the room needed a focal point and the fireplace was perfect. I completely exposed the fireplace and wall in a day although the cleaning up took some considerable time with dust travelling to every corner of the kitchen and living room. Over the next two days I went for it, working up the stairs and into the two bedrooms. I eventually exposed six walls but left many others, deciding that I had given myself enough to do, as much work would still be required to rake out re pug to complete. The contrast between the stone and painted walls looked good but over the following days I came to realise just how much work was involved in creating the desired finished effect.

The areas between the stone consisted of a dried mud like material. This had to be raked out to a depth of at least 2 inches. Once raked out new mortar could be pointed into the recesses. This was not easy and I found it to be very time consuming. After discussing this with a local I found out that there was a quicker way. I purchased what could be best described as an oversized mastic gun with an opening at one end to place the mortar. You then squeezed the trigger, which in turn pushed the mortar through an oversized nozzle into the recess. The canister would empty after about 5 minutes and you would then have to refill taking care not to cover the screw on end fixture with pug, as it would not tighten. The consistency also needed to be just right. Too runny and it would poor out of the nozzle and down the wall. Too dry and you would not be able to squeeze it through the nozzle. After a few attempts I became pretty good with the loading and consistency of my mixture. I used a mixing attachment fitted to my drill to get the consistency of the mortar just right. I mixed a bucket at a time, and then used a ladle to place the mixture with care within the guns canister. I then worked from the top of a wall down to the bottom completing an area of no more than two square meters before stopping. When dry the mortar became rock solid so I had to take into consideration the temperature and drying time. Whilst still pliable I needed to push the mortar home into the recesses, then using a spoon I pushed home the semi dry mortar. To complete the perfect finish I used a paintbrush, brushing the surface with a little water again pushing into the recesses.

After drying out a little more I then used a wire brush working from the top of the wall to the bottom cleaning all remaining plaster and water / mortar traces from the granite. Finally using a damp sponge I would wipe over the granite to reveal its true beauty. The finished product looked amazing.