This presentation was given by Damien Condon of Calx Restroration to the 2025 Building Limes Forum of Ireland “Lime Slam” event on 19 February.
It sets out why it’s important not to remove renders from traditionally constructed buildings without conservation advice.
Not included in this presentation, but just as a rule of thumb, if less than one third of the historic material remains then in practice it may have to all be replaced. If more than a third remains, and it’s still attached to the building fabric properly, repair don’t replace. But either way, please have someone with conservation knowledge look at your building…
Also, in some cases, removing a modern cement render may damage the underlying fabric of your building because it is so tightly adhered. So please – think twice and get advice!
The link below is a PDF file containing Damien’s slides.