After 5 decades we understand period and traditional buildings and through a vast range of experiences We know that older properties often suffer badly from modern materials being used in and on them.

When a period building was designed & constructed, it certainly wasn't designed and constructed to be damp, cold and mouldy, but over it's long life, many people with little to know understanding of period buildings will have carried out 'improvements' including using incompatible materials.

Very often influenced by the wonders of Mark Eting, whose sole purpose is to make product suppliers richer.

Here's an example where even the dog made the decisions! But who couldn't resist a shaggy old English sheepdog singing a Frank Sinatra classic!

Here's a short video on our channel showing the ingenious thought processes that were employed in how period buildings were constructed.

What we can do.

We offer various Surveys including defects analysis and diagnosis, damp and mould, timber rot and beetle infestations plus of course we can also help with house viewings and project support and guidance (see our other  pages) plus of course we can help by specifying traditional materials and to ensure your lovely old building receives the treatment it deserves.

Heat, moisture passage and ventilation are essential in traditional buildings, but a large number of modern products are simply impermeable.

Mark Eting has pushed products for keeping the rain out, but more often than not, that's the last thing an older property needs.

We're not suggesting that you want the rain getting inside your home, but it's a two-way street; many people don't consider the large amounts of moisture that us humans generate every day simply by living!

Sleeping, breathing, cooking, cleaning, boiling the kettle, showering, washing clothes, washing the dog, drying clothes etc - this all needs to passage out of the home where it can evaporate away: here's another short video on our channel showing daily activities which generate moisture in the home:

Chimney stacks, open fireplaces, lath & plaster walls, even 'draughty' sliding sash windows etc were all excellent exit paths for moisture generated in the home, but over the years the trend for wanting to live in a hermetically sealed sandwich box has grown, so a lot of these buildings underwent some quite catastrophic changes which impacted badly on them.

Add to this the introduction of double & triple glazed UPVC Windows and doors, central heating systems, en-suite bathrooms, loft conversions, wet rooms, automatic washing machines, tumble driers, microwaves, 4 & 6 burner gas cookers, fan assisted ovens, washing hanging on radiators, and what almost appears to be a fear of fresh air - these houses really have had to endure so much change from what they were designed to handle.

In School we learn about solids, liquids and gasses, buildings are a mix of all three plus molecular & atomic sciences; no building is a solid, especially period buildings: they constantly expand and contract with temperature and humidity variations all year round