Why use lime in buildings?

- lime products are porous and absorb moisture from the surrounding bricks or stones. Any salt or frost damage
occurs in the lime, thus protecting the surrounding materials.

- lime products allow buildings to ‘breathe’. This means that moisture is allowed to evaporate from the wall (unlike with most modern mortars and paints which hold moisture in the wall), this helps to control condensation and damp within the building.

- lime mortars are relatively flexible and will accommodate some movement in a wall, each joint of lime mortar is like a mini expansion joint. If lime cracks it can ‘self-heal’ when exposed to air unlike their modern counterparts which are harder and hence more brittle.

- lime has a proven track record, it has been used in architecture since 12,000 B.C. and there are plenty of examples from antiquity that still survive today, how many cement buildings will be standing in 600 years time like
Brunelleschi’s dome?

- lime is burnt at a lower temperature than cement and so has an immediate energy saving. A standard lime mortar has about 60-70% of the embodied energy of a cement mortar. It is also considered to be more environmentally friendly because of its ability, through carbonation, to re-absorb some of the Carbon Dioxide given off during burning.

                     

- lime mortars are ‘soft’, they therefore allow other building components such as stone, wood and bricks to be recycled because they can be easily cleaned of mortar/limewash and re-used.

- lime enables other natural and sustainable products such as wood, hemp, straw etc to be used because of its ability to control moisture.

- lime is considered to be less harmful to human health than many of its modern counterparts:

■ lime plaster is hygroscopic (literally means ‘water seeking’) which draws the moisture from the internal to the external environment, this helps to control condensation and mould growth, which have been shown to have links to allergies and asthmas. The American College of Allergies suggest that 50% of all allergies are aggravated or
caused by our ‘polluted’ internal environment, thus lime creates a healthier living space.

■ lime plasters and paints are non-toxic, therefore they do not contribute to indoor air pollution unlike many modern paints.

- lime products create a beautiful, lively, unique aesthetic that no modern material can replicate....well we think so....

              

Ty-Mawr - the home of the founders and owners of Ty-Mawr Lime Ltd as well as the head office and training centre - restored using traditional fat lime mortars, plasters and limewashes.