Cement stops a drystone wall moving and draining, traps water in soft limestone and turns small failures into large ones. Plex Group explains the right way to repair walls across the Cotswolds.
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A drystone wall holds itself up through friction, weight and geometry. Every stone bears on the ones below, the two faces lean in on each other at a set batter, and the packed core ties the whole thing together. As the ground beneath shifts through the seasons, the wall accommodates that movement by settling stone against stone, a millimetre at a time. Cement removes that ability. A mortared section becomes a rigid panel sitting within a flexible structure, and when the ground moves the rigid section cannot follow. The crack does not appear in the middle of the repair. It appears at the junction between the mortared work and the dry work, which is why patched walls around Winchcombe and Chipping Norton so often fail directly alongside a previous repair.
The open joints in a drystone wall let water pass straight through. Rain enters the face, runs down through the hearting and leaves at the base, and the wall dries out quickly after weather. Point the face with a dense cement mortar and that water has no exit. It soaks into the stone instead and sits there. Cotswold oolitic limestone is soft and porous, considerably weaker than the cement used to point it, so when trapped water freezes the stone gives way before the mortar does. The result is spalling, where the face of the stone flakes off and the mortar joints are left standing proud. Every freeze-thaw cycle takes a little more of the stone, and the wall loses material it can never get back.
When a dry laid wall fails it fails locally. A few stones slip, a short length bellies out, and the repair is confined to that section. Bond those same stones together with cement and they stop behaving as individual units. Load that would have been shed through small movements builds up instead until something gives, and when it does, a whole bonded panel comes away at once. The wall also has no foundation designed to carry a rigid structure. A drystone wall sits on a footing course bedded on firm ground, not a concrete strip, so a heavy mortared section concentrates load on ground that was never intended to take it.
Cement is close to permanent. Removing it from soft limestone generally takes the face of the stone with it, so a wall that could have been rebuilt using its own material may need a proportion of new stone brought in once it has been cemented. Beyond the structure, the appearance matters here. Grey mortar lines read as obviously wrong against dry laid Cotswold stone, and many walls in the villages around Cheltenham and across the Cotswolds National Landscape sit within conservation areas or the curtilage of listed buildings, where like for like repair in the original method is expected and sometimes required.
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We start with a full site assessment to work out why the wall moved in the first place, because a rebuild that ignores the cause will fail again. Where cement has already been applied we cut it out carefully by hand so the stone underneath is not shattered, and any stone too far gone to reuse is replaced with matched local limestone. The failed length is taken down to sound work, with the stone set aside in courses so the original material goes back into the wall. We reset the foundation course on firm ground, rebuild both faces to the correct batter using timber A frames and lines, pack the core solid with hearting as each course goes up, and bed through stones at intervals to tie the faces together. The wall is finished with a cope set tight to lock the top courses. The result carries its own load, drains freely, and can be repaired again in fifty years. Plex Group repairs and rebuilds drystone walls across the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, and Worcestershire.
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A drystone wall fails for a structural reason, and cement hides that reason instead of solving it. Plex Group rebuilds drystone walls the way they were built, across the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire. Get in touch to arrange an assessment.
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Cement stops a drystone wall moving and draining, traps water in soft limestone and turns small failures into large ones. Plex Group explains the right way to repair walls across the Cotswolds.
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Ivy roots into the core of a drystone wall and forces the stones apart, and pulling it off makes the damage worse. Plex Group explains what is happening and the right way to fix it across the Cotswolds.
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From the initial meeting to the final clear up Patrick and Luke were unfailingly polite and professional. Patrick’s quotation for the work was sensible with a detailed breakdown. The work was started on time and was kept to time. The resulting terracing exceeded expectations and the work area was left cleaner than when the team arrived. I cannot thank Patrick, Luke and Jake enough for all their work and would have no hesitation in recommending PLEX Group.
It has been a pleasure having Plex work with me on my garden project. Totally engaged, very communicative and prompt. Access to my property is difficult but they just worked around any problems with a refreshing 'can do' attitude. I would happily recommend Plex to anyone working on a garden project.
Fantastic work and would highly recommend. The team were professional, friendly, considerate, hard working and flexible to ensure the works met our needs and expectations. Really nice team to have on site and were respectful and kept it as tidy as they could. Very impressed with the work and looking to get them to come back to do a couple of other jobs for us in the future.
I am really happy with the work that Plex did. They came up with solutions to problems that arose quickly, efficiently and without any stress. They were friendly, professional, organised, efficient and had excellent communication.
We have recently had a new garage installed from the Plex team and we are thrilled with the finished product. Can't thank Patrick Luke and their team enough. Would highly recommend.
I would highly recommend Luke and Patrick and their team. They are all extremely polite and hard-working. They put up a new pergola in our back garden and tidied up the edges of the garden. An excellent job.
Patrick, Luke and their team have transformed our sloped garden giving us a lovley functional space. They removed a hedge sadly over run with brambles with a fence gaining us a couple more meters of garden too! Despite having a week of rain they did their best to clear up at the end of the job. We would highly recommend this professional team.
Luke and Patrick have completed two projects for us now. They are the most polite and professional people with a hardworking team of individuals. Nothing is too much trouble for them.
Luke and his team are really lovely and professional. Cannot recommend him enough.
Luke and the team are absolutely brilliant. A passion for what they do and personal but professional, so pleased to have found them!
Really pleased with the concrete base for my carport that was completed by the team , worked really hard in poor weather conditions . Great job would definitely recommend the team .
Our garden has never looked better - hard-working, thorough, and also great at getting in touch if there's a change to the schedule, etc. They have nursed our box hedging back to health. Before and and after photos are a bonus!
Competitive price wise even though the work carried out was to a very high standard. I was very pleased with the end result and impressed with the tidiness they left the garden after all the work was carried out. A very happy customer!
Very obliging and efficient we have worked out a schedule that suits us both.
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