Whinter Cob & Lime

27/08/2026

always a pleasure to receive pictures of previously completed work, especially when it's been beautifully decorated and styled by Georgie Veck / .thatch.and.the.orchard
when the clients began to start preparing the room for re-decorating last winter, it soon became apparent that the walls were in need of some serious TLC. movement/cracks in the cob were repaired/stitched using cob block and helibar bed in an earth-lime mortar.
afterwards the walls were re-plastered in lime, culminating in a Mike Wye Ltd, to match existing finishes in the property.
the freshly plastered walls were then decorated by the client using limewash mixed from powdered quicklime. the green colour of the feature wall was achieved by experimenting with a blend of green earth, yellow ochre, burnt umber and black pigments.
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24/08/2026

it can sometimes be easy to overlook a detail like this
beneath the surface of this cob house is a visible join between the old corner of the cottage and the later bread oven — a small clue to how the building was built and/or altered.
as the client wanted to expose the stone plinth and repoint it in lime, we’ve chosen to make this small SPAB clay tile repair as part of the work.
rather than hiding the construction details of the house, we’ve taken the opportunity to understand them, preserve them and let the building’s history remain legible.
Conservation TraditionalCraft OldBuildings BuildingHistory

11/08/2026

quality control inspecting cob blocks made using machine.

07/08/2026

we came. we saw. we compressed.
showing the new apprentice one of cob block making machines, which a client has hired to recycle material from condemned cob barn in the village.
full post to follow.

04/08/2026

repairs underway at current project ahead of rendering.
this bread oven had a large movement crack between it and the old corner of the cottage which weren't keyed into each other. the crack has now been repaired and stitched using stainless steel helibar, cob blocks and cob bricks from Earth Blocks UK bed in an earth-lime mortar

30/07/2026

before:after.
time to post some more progress pictures of elevations now that the topcoat & ashlar finish has been applied with David Cornick
cob bricks for repairs from Earth Blocks UK & lime renders/mortars from Heritage Cob & Lime.

27/07/2026

finally managed to find a labourer to help me get through some of my backlog!

14/07/2026

25/06/2026

One of the lesser-discussed problems with cement render on cob buildings is its weight.
Over time, heavy sand-and-cement renders can become detached from the wall, and the friable nature of cob often means there is little holding them in place once this happens.
This is exactly what we found on our current project.
The existing render had detached almost completely from the cob wall, with thicknesses reaching 85mm in places and gaps of 2–3 inches behind it. Investigation revealed that after the gable end collapsed sometime in the 1950s/60s, the corner had been rebuilt in brick, but in line with the detached render rather than the original cob wall.
Once the failed render was removed, it became clear that while the original cob wall remained remarkably straight, the rebuilt corner sat on an entirely different plane. Achieving a flat Georgian ashlar finish would have required an excessive build-up of plaster, creating the same risk of future failure.
Instead, the wall was re-skinned using handmade cob bricks from Earth Blocks UK, tied back into the original structure with Helibar reinforcement to bring the wall flush with the rebuilt brick corner. This approach allowed the wall itself to be corrected rather than relying on an unsustainably thick coat of plaster.
The wall is now ready for its new lime finish, providing a far more durable and sympathetic repair for the future.

20/05/2026

finally managed to top-coat some insulating lime plaster from last week. the plaster which contains both h**p & perlite already appears to be having a positive impact on the room which was suffering from damp / condensation previously due to the sand & cement/gypsum plaster that had been applied to the solid external wall.
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