Restoration · Kristinehamn, Sweden
An old plastered facade, restored
A multi-storey town house in Kristinehamn: failing render taken down to the brick, rebuilt layer by layer and painted back to its original colour.
What we found
Whole fields of the old render had come away from the brick: loose plaster, open cracks and patches of earlier repairs. Everything hollow was taken down to sound brick before any new layer went on.
Repair
New render built up in layers on the brick, the edges feathered into the sound old plaster so that no line remains between old and new.
Finished
One even facade again, painted in the original warm terracotta colour.
Old walls need the right mortar
Until the middle of the 20th century Swedish facades were rendered almost only with lime mortar — slaked lime and sand, sometimes with crushed brick or burnt alum shale for a hydraulic set. Old render is soft and breathable; a hard cement patch on top of it traps moisture and pushes the old plaster off the wall. That is why we always look at what the wall is made of before we repair it.
Start a conversation
Old facade cracking or falling off?
Send us photos — we will tell you what it needs.
Artisan Aleks Company designs and builds premium themed environments across Europe: artificial rockwork, sculptures, themed architecture, facades and immersive storytelling spaces.